The Execution of Kira
by hannahjap
Summary: L knows that Light is Kira; he always has, but now he has proof. He should rightly just execute him. However, the prospect is disillusioning and he has an alternative. Sadly, it may not have been a good idea. -LxLight elements, but it's not overbearing.-
1. Prelude & Caught

**Preface**

It's amazing. In life, there are many choices, and it is utterly amazing the difference that one new little twist can make. L gazed down at the two bodies strewn across the warehouse floor. The more familiar of the two's blonde hair had formed a halo around their head where they lay. Their deaths had been undramatic. He wished that they'd had to suffer more, just a little more, to make it up to him. As if they could have ever accounted for the suffering, the death… With a last glance at his old, for lack of a better word, friends, he turned to his accomplices.

"We should go," he said simply.

**One - Caught**

It had been an awkward decision. Indeed, if the taskforce had found out about it, he would not have been able to explain himself. But he didn't have to; he was L. His decisions were what counted and if he wanted to do something without informing them, then he could. He did not believe that he could have been wrong, at least not _completely_ wrong, about Light. Because Light was Kira. Everything about him screamed Kira. He might as well wear a sash that _said_ Kira! And if Light was Kira, and as far as L was concerned he was, then Misa was the second Kira. That much made sense on its own. And so, he had made the choice. The choice he had not told anyone else about. As far as they knew, he had released Misa and no longer suspected her; at least not officially. But he did. Very, very, desperately he suspected that Misa was still playing Kira's pawn. But he had released her. Technically…

What Misa did not know was that she'd been bugged. And so L could hear everything she was saying at any given time. Even Light would not have expected this. Misa was going to betray Kira without even knowing it. Betray Light. Finally… He just had to wait.

Light had been shadowing him pretty much since the handcuffs had been removed. It was almost amusing watching the tables turn like that, but it meant he was unable to listen to Misa. He recorded it all, of course, so it wasn't as if he was missing anything. But the more time went by, the more annoyed he became. He wanted to know he had been right all along. He couldn't wait; especially if Light's plan was still moving along smoothly.

Finally, he found a Light-free moment to escape and listen in on Misa. As he sat in his chair, drawing his knees up to his chest, he paused. If he got what he wanted, then he would surely have to execute Light. Admittedly, he did want to see Kira fall, but… he didn't particularly want to have to lose his only friend. Needs be. He pushed the button to play back the tape.

The recording started right away, from the moment he had had it implanted into one of her earrings. To be safe, there were also bugs in her boots, phone and various other items of clothing she seemed particularly fond of. The earring was his favourite though, as it would record the best sound quality. And he had noticed she seemed to wear them most days. If at any point the tape skipped over a long period of time, he could try one of the others.

Nothing useful had been recorded at first. Misa had been under surveillance for another day from the point of the bug's installation; it seemed reasonable to ignore anything before she was released. L moved the recording on to the point when she had been freed. Ideally, he would have listened to everything, but Light would not leave him alone for too long, he supposed. He had to be picky.

Aha. This must be the conversation Light and Misa had shared immediately after her release; before she had even left the building. He had not been able to record any of it with the main surveillance gear. Perhaps it would be useful.

At once he was glad he had placed this bug in her earring. Light, unawares, had whispered in her ear. He had actually placed his mouth right against the bug without knowing it! How ironic. He asked her to dig something up. What..? L frowned. He wished he didn't have to rely purely on sound, but that would have been impossible.

He was silently glad that he was no longer chained to Light.

He listened to everything now, forgetting Light. He could always pause the tape if necessary. He managed to survive a lot of poorly recorded network television. He even listened to all the recorded near-silence as she slept. And finally he was rewarded.

He could tell she was outside; judging by the sounds of birds and rustled leaves, somewhere like a wood. And then… it sounded as if she was digging. This was it. His eyes widened. The bug had picked up half a conversation; Misa's half. Talking to someone called Ryuk.

_A shinigami._

This tape would be enough evidence to start surveillance again, but he didn't want that. He was right. He just needed confirmation. He knew where it would be.

Impatiently, he forwarded the tape to the point when he knew Misa had stopped to see Light again at the HQ. Yesterday; it had been yesterday. He found the place.

And despite himself, he could hardly believe it.

"_I don't remember Hideki Ryuga's name… I'm sorry."_

He was right.

"… _I will be able to operate as Kira once again."_

That was Light. No, that was Light _confessing_. That was Light admitting he had been and would again be Kira! Light was Kira, all along… Just as he'd thought. He had been right.

He had caught Kira.

He had caught Light.


	2. You Are Kira

**Two - You Are Kira**

L did not confront him right away. He wanted to savour it. For two days he never let his eyes leave Light for more than a moment. He wanted to see how he acted now that he was sure; he wanted to observe Kira now that he knew who Kira was. And he was surprised. Light acted so… normally. Aside from unusually high levels of concern for the Kira case, ironically enough, he didn't show any signs that he was living a double life. Kira was flawless…

Flawless in his façade.

It upset L. It implied he could lie casually about anything he wanted. So, of course, they were not friends. Although he had known that, really, and just wished that maybe they could have been. It didn't matter. Light was Kira, and as far as L was concerned that was the one and only issue at hand. And still, it was a shame…

He would confront Light the next day. And then execute him..? Not personally of course, but… it would be he who would send him away. He'd be responsible. Not that that mattered, in fact it was good; he was sending Kira to his death as he had promised. Good. Tomorrow, then.

In the morning, Light met him as usual in the office. He shot L a brief, charming, but preoccupied smile. Preoccupied with catching Kira, not BEING Kira. Though he was. Ha. It was almost comical; the plot for some pathetic sitcom. Only serious. It was especially odd watching Light today, as L planned it to be his friend's last on earth. If Light had had his way, it would be the opposite way round. But there was always going to be a funeral; the only thing left up to them was the occupant of the coffin. And L had won the game, so it was going to be Yagami Light after all.

By noon, he still had not managed to find the right opportunity to tell Light that he knew. It wasn't that they hadn't been alone; they had, briefly, at various points. And they could certainly escape the taskforce whenever. It just hadn't seemed… right yet. The detective knew that he was just putting it off. But somehow he couldn't stop himself. He promised himself that it would be over by the end of the day.

Just before Light retired for the night, and just after the taskforce had made their leave, L realised that he was basically out of time. It had to be now. Just as he was thinking it, Light got to his feet and turned to him.

"I think that's enough for tonight, I'm going to go to bed-"

"Wait a moment, Light." The voice had caught both of them off guard. Even though L had been the one to say it. It had been oddly commanding; not the usual monotone. He meant it. Light stopped in his tracks, unnerved. L quickly rearranged his voice back to the usual tone.

"May I talk to you quickly?" he asked, adding "In private." Light nodded, although his face betrayed the confusion he was feeling. L hoped his didn't. He led Light away and up to the living room where they had once fought rather dramatically. It seemed appropriate. Light did not understand what was going on. Neither, it seemed, did L.

They both sat; L in his usual way, although perhaps just a little more closed off than ever before. Light seemed to sense that something was wrong, although he clearly did not know what. If he did, he would surely react. Unless, wondered L, he had already submitted to his fate? No, it was impossible. Light would not give up until he was dead. Perhaps not even then…

L cleared his throat, causing Light's eyes to dart nervously from him to the floor then back to him again. L tried not to look at him.

"I have reached an important point in the Kira case which I think I should share with you, Light…" Light waited. Bastard; he wouldn't admit to it. He was going to make him say everything out loud. "I believe I have… found Kira." It wasn't like L to dart around the truth like this. He couldn't stop himself; not with the murderer's eyes on him the whole time. It would be a shame to lose this… this being the most difficult and wonderful dynamic he had ever faced. This being Light.

"Kira is…" Light still did not say anything, but his eyes had widened. He knew he knew. L turned on him and for the moment of anticipation before the words came, they stared into each others' eyes with mutual hate and admiration.

"…Yagami Light."

There was a near-impossible pause. And then… Light laughed.

"This again, Ryuuzaki..?" L was shocked. Did he actually think he could get out of it? Obviously he did. "We both know I'm not Kira. If this is all, I'd like to go to bed now please." Light started to get up again, but L was by no means ready to let him get away now, after everything. His voice was hard when he spoke, and it shocked Light into sitting down again.

"I have proof this time. I have a _confession_." Light faltered, but then the laugh came again; mocking, disbelieving. Cocky.

"How so..? I've certainly never confessed to being Kira. Because I am not." Light seemed so pleased with himself. L wanted to savour the moment when his face fell as he knew he was beaten.

"Not even to Misa..?" he asked casually, as if it was the weather they were discussing. He watched Light freeze. And yet he still denied it!

"Not even to Misa. I'm not Kira; I don't suppose I would have any reason to tell her I was…"

"That's funny. Because I happen to have it recorded. I assure you I have all the proof I need to send you to your death… Kira."

And finally, finally, Light realised he was beaten. His face remained simply frozen in shock for a moment; eyes wide, mouth just a fraction open. The picture of fear. And then he snapped.

L saw with horror what was about to happen just as it did. Light's lip twitched. Then he lunged forward and had L on the floor by the neck. He couldn't get him off and he couldn't breathe properly. But he could tell Light wasn't trying to kill him; he couldn't feel the life slipping away. Light was merely showing him who was in control of the situation. He was bargaining.

"Where is it..?" Light whispered viciously, an inch from L's face. "Where is this recording?" L gagged.

"I… I won't tell you. Ev-even if you kill me, it won't matter. If I d-die, Watari will find the data. The…the only way to stop that is if I live. And if I l-live, I won't tell you. You can't win Kira." Light pressed down harder on L's neck for a moment, then sighed. He released his hold, but kept him pinned to the floor.

"Well, you can't blame me for trying."

"Certainly not," L agreed with a scowl. "But it won't change anything. You are Kira, and you must be killed."

"That seems a bit twisted, doesn't it..?" Light offered, half-heartedly. L attempted a vague smile.

"Yes." Then he was suddenly deadly serious. "But I also think it's twisted for you to claim to be a force of justice when you are little more than a mass murderer." Light frowned.

"Only when you put it that way. The world is a better place because of Kira, you know…"

"And that makes what you've done alright, does it..?" Light sighed again; he wasn't even going to win this tiny victory.

Light let L sit up. They both returned to their positions on the sofa without a word, and then Light turned back to face L. This time, he was one hundred percent sincere.

"Ryuuzaki… you realise no good can come from sending me off to execution." L was surprised that he dared question his fate. But also intrigued.

"How so..? It would rid the world of one of the most dangerous criminals of modern times."

"It would rid the world of one of the most brilliant minds of modern times. My intentions were pure. And it worked, by the way. The world is slowly growing better."

"The world is growing more afraid; that is not a real peace, Light, that is just fear, plain and simple."

"Do I deserve to die for trying to fix the world..?" L had to think before replying this time.

"No…" he said finally. "But for the way you chose to go about it; yes, you do."

Light ensured their eyes met for the next statement. It was the most important. If anything would convince L, it would be this.

"Could you have resisted, if that notebook simply fell at your feet..?" L stared at him long and hard. He said nothing. "Could anyone..?" Light whispered. L's eyes darted momentarily away. When he looked back, there was a spark; an idea.

"If you had never found that notebook, then you would be a wonderful person, Light." Light frowned.

"Thank you for rubbing that in…" he said sombrely.

"When you changed after your confinement… and tell me honestly… did you lose your memory of having used the notebook..?"

"Yes…" Light said after a moment. He wondered, hoped, L was coming to the same conclusion he just had. L bit down on his thumb, thinking. He gazed carefully at Light for hints of dishonesty.

"…We have to kill Kira, Light. I have to; that is the only thing I can do."

"I understand…" Light muttered. So L was not going to change his mind… "But, do I really deserve to die..? I mean, I-" L cut him off.

"Kira deserves to die. You, Yagami Light, perhaps do not." Light's lip twitched, but he did not allow himself to smile just yet. "I believe that the person you were when you had no memories of the notebook was a good person and would be useful to me in the future. If only he were not harbouring Kira, ey..?" Had he just made a joke? "But if he doesn't have to, then…"

"Then I could live!" Light blurted out, unable to stop himself. The frown from L made him wish he hadn't.

"Yes," L murmured. "Kira will be executed. Who is to say you have to be too, Light..?"


	3. Tricks

**Three - Tricks**

It was raining. Soft and unyielding; the kind of rainstorm which has you soaked before you even realise what the weather's like. On the rooftop, where Light and L stood, the rain was invited to have its way with them as it wished. They were both soaked to the skin. It seemed like as good a time as any for a funeral.

Light had been initially against turning the execution into a formal procedure. Why bother? There would be no body. There would be no service. No coffin waiting to be lowered into the ground and no weeping widow mourning by the wayside. Just the two of them hanging around on the rooftop; ready for the kill. Murder without consequence, without corpse. Ironic…

Misa had been neutralized. After Light and L had discussed what exactly would happen; moments after L's initial decision, he had told Light to phone Misa and tell her to forget. He warned him, with a smirk, that he could monitor both sides of the conversation if he desired so there were to be no tricks. Not that Light had had time to concoct any; L knew that. This was game over for Kira.

Misa had been confused. Didn't Light want her to write names anymore? Why not? Of course she wouldn't question him if he told her to trust him, of course. She understood he had his reasons. Yes, she would do so at once. She would pass the ownership back to Light. As soon as she hung up. And five minutes after she had, L phoned her back and briefly interrogated her. She had done as she was asked; because Misa was not smart enough to lie as well as that. And besides… Light hadn't got a chance to get anything past him. L could tell that simply from the look on his face. That was one Kira down, another to go.

L had not let Light out of his sight since accusing him of being Kira. That night, they had shared the same bed, as they had done previously whilst chained together. Neither of them slept. L refused to close his eyes even to blink in case his prey slipped away. Light could not sleep due to the horror of what awaited him tomorrow. Death. Even if it was just a part of him, it was death.

The rain refused to cease even for a moment, but it was not loud enough to interrupt their voices. They had been there for quite some time now. Neither of them knew what to say. Light was a murderer, but not on a personal level. He was used to being detached from death; writing out characters from the play he constructed of life. Ink spreading across the page as blood spilled far, far away from him. L was not a murderer. But he was not detached from death. And so eventually he was the one to start.

"Yagami Light." After the silence, his name caught Light by surprise. He looked at L. He was afraid.

"Will you renounce ownership of all notebooks currently in your possession..? Thus erasing all memories related to them."

Would he? He didn't have a choice. Although… maybe he did. He could take L, now, and push him down against the roof and squeeze the life right out of his throat. He could run him over the edge of the building and watch him fall to his death. Any number of things… and then he could just run away. But he'd be the world's most wanted criminal, and he had not got any of the Death Note with him. He would be hunted down and killed like a dog, rather than become a god. It was not a choice; at least this way he could live. And he would be happy. He'd be happy because he would not know he had any reason to be sad.

"Wait," Light said flatly. L looked at him with surprise. "If I do this now, you'll still know I was Kira."

"Yes… I will." L did not see the problem.

"That's not fair." L frowned. His eyes narrowed and his voice became slightly harsh.

"You killed thousands of people. You do not decide what is fair."

Light thought about it. If this was how it was going to be, then L could still arrest him at any time. He did not seem like the type to destroy the evidence he had just because his suspect had died. He would always hold something over him, and Light would be none the wiser. It seemed extremely necessary to give L incentive not to betray him after this was done.

"Alright. I renounce ownership of the Death Note I currently have possession of." As Light said it, he turned to his left. His eyes found something which no-one looking down on the building would have seen. L also turned.

The shinigami, Ryuk, stood there. Now that Light was the owner of the notebook buried somewhere in the woods, Ryuk was bound to follow him around once more. L could see him too. It was perhaps one of the finer points of L's detective career and one Light thought he would have missed.

L had assumed Kira had killed his substitute, the Yotsuba representative, immediately. There was no other explanation. Knowing that Light was Kira; it was hard to factor in. He had been with Light at the moment when he became Kira once more. He had not been watching him, however, and Light could have written a name in that time. Just not in the notebook; which had bothered him. He would have seen it when he examined it. The torn corner in the notebook was his clue. He had assumed at once, without conformation, that the notebooks still had power in shards. And so, putting two and two together, he realised that Kira had been using a torn piece of paper from one of the notes and had used this method to kill Higuchi. Light must, therefore, have had the paper with him in the helicopter and must, therefore, have had it with him since before he had been confined. And, like Misa's earrings, it did not take L long to figure out which item was key.

When L had asked for his watch, Light had been shocked. Then he had scowled. L managed to break in and find the small piece of notepaper within in no time. As soon as he had done so, he had had to inhale sharply. There had been a shinigami in the room since shortly after Misa's renounce of the Death Note. Light grudgingly introduced them, and L, with just a hint of a smirk, applauded his ingenuity. He had almost got that one trick past him.

Ryuk sniggered, amused by the apparent end to the game of cat and mouse. He had wondered which one of them would come out on top. It seemed Light had placed his faith in the wrong girl. Or perhaps merely underestimated his friend.

"Are you sure, Light? No more tricks?" Ryuk sniggered. Light frowned. He was in no mood for light-heartedness. He had moments to finish a plan.

"I am sure. You know where the notebook is buried; go fetch it and take it back to wherever it is you came from." Ryuk sniggered once more. Before the deal was complete, Light butted in with one final thought. "Just give me twenty seconds after you leave to say goodbye in private." He stared at L as he said it. L nodded.

"Whatever you say, Light," Ryuk laughed. He spread his wings and flew away. As soon as he was out of sight, the clock started ticking. Light turned solemnly to L, his soon to be former rival.

"I'm sorry for what I did. And thank you," Light said plainly. L nodded. It was merely a formality. A kind word from the loser to the victor before the death.

And then, apparently completely spontaneously, Light kissed him. L's eyes widened as he felt a hand twist in his tangled and sodden hair. The pressure Light applied was not unpleasant… and yet it seemed forced. Probably just Kira's last mind game. _Nineteen… twenty._

Light's eyes snapped open. He drew back sharply, his mouth hanging open. He had woken up in the middle of a kiss. He did not remember why he had initiated it. He could not even recall why they were out on this rooftop in the middle of the rain.

Light had had just enough time to come up with one final plan for self-preservation before he had had to surrender. L had the power to send him to his death at any moment. It was just his conscience stopping him and, from what Light had gathered, that was seriously lacking. This was the man who would set up people for the slaughter just to get a few answers. That's how he had first become aware of him; the phoney television L. Whom he had killed. The one thing keeping Light from death was just as corrupt as he was. He would not be taking that chance.

But what did he have to give L in return..? His mind? But there were bound to be others as smart as him in the future, then L may choose to replace him. Then there was only one thing L desired, secretly, which Light could give to him. A way out of his solitude. L was lonely and Light could give him companionship. That was the only valuable commodity he had up there on the rooftop; his last and only bargaining chip. He'd used it.

And yet the new Light was totally unaware of his very own plot to keep himself alive. All he knew was that he was cold, wet and he'd done something he regretted.


	4. Without Kira

**Four - Without Kira**

The silence was treacle-thick and just as unpleasant to be caught in the middle of. Light was confused and uncomfortable. Mostly because L was just standing there. L did not know what he could say; he could not tell Light that a moment ago they had been out here seeing off Kira into the ether, or that that was, he supposed, why Light had kissed him then. The only answers he could give were worse than nothing. Light, in his newly vulnerable state, decided to ask the first question.

"Why are we out here?" His voice was shaky; either from cold or shock.

"I… I just wanted to be out in the rain." It was mostly a lie, but not completely. L had felt the rain to be appropriate for the occasion. Light seemed to accept it and chose to fill in his own blanks. "We should go in now, though," L muttered. Light nodded; any excuse.

Later, with towels for their drenched hair, the two of them sat at the top of the staircase leading up to the roof. Both were absorbed in their own thoughts, though Light occasionally glanced across to his companion nervously. L pretended he hadn't noticed to be polite. Why make things worse?

"I'm sorry." L looked at him. He hadn't expected Light to mention what had happened, let alone apologize for it. He suddenly felt uncomfortable. "I don't know why I did that, it was wrong of me. I'm sorry," Light finished. L hesitated.

"Your hair is still very wet, Light. You don't want to catch a cold." L leaned over with a towel and brushed the moisture from Light's forehead. Light stared at him. After a second, L pulled away and looked back down at the floor.

This wasn't what he'd hoped. He no longer had any reason to be suspicious or cautious of Light. Light could not be Kira now. He was just an eighteen year old student with a brilliant mind. And he still had every reason to be cautious of L. As far as Light knew, he was still unofficially under suspicion. L would be watching him, waiting for him to slip up and proof he was something which Light knew he was not. Everything was a mind game and the rules had suddenly been changed, but no-one had bothered to tell Light. This was different to anything before. L had always suspected Light; since before they had even met, and Light had always tried to convince him he was wrong. What were they supposed to do now? Or rather, what was _L_ supposed to do…

"It was my fault," L said, giving the only explanation he could that would satisfy Light. Neither of them would look at the other one. After what was probably two minutes, but which could easily have been mistaken for a year, Light nodded.

"Alright," he said softly. He got up and started to make his way down the stairs. Halfway, he paused. "Aren't you coming?" he asked. L followed without answering.

It felt like a lie. It was. But L had to continue pretending to hunt for Kira. If he didn't, then what? How could he suddenly say he no longer wanted to be part of the Kira investigation, possibly one of the most complex murder cases of his life..? Exactly; he couldn't. Besides… Light wouldn't have let him quit. If L was someone else he may have found Light's unreasonable dedication to the case, the case to catch someone he used to be, endearing or comical. As it was he just felt guilty that he couldn't tell him the truth.

The killings did not stop at once, as Misa had set some up in advance. It was, however, less than a month before criminals stopped dying and Kira seemed to disappear for the second time. The taskforce held their breath. No-one wanted to be the first to say it was over. L, especially, appeared for all the world to be interested in continuing the case. Light seemed more and more disappointed every day that Kira did not reappear. The rest of his co-workers did not understand why; surely it was a good thing if Kira was gone? L was the only one who appreciated it.

Light wanted to prove, without a doubt, to L that he was wrong. That he had always been wrong. And the only way to completely eradicate any doubt about that was to find the real Kira. L watched Light every day as the boy sunk into a murky depression. He wanted this so badly. L couldn't help but feel guiltier as time passed. After three months had passed since the secret execution of Kira, L made up his mind.

One night, after everyone else had retired for the evening, L turned to Light. Light had been particularly miserable these past few days; he had almost given up hope of another lead.

"Light." He turned to face L, with his new favourite melancholy expression. "Would you please give me a moment of your time… in private?"

"Of course, Ryuuzaki."

The two of them made their way out of the main office and L led them to, he realised as he did so, the room where he had told Light that he knew he was Kira. They both sat. L stared at Light briefly before speaking.

"I feel I need to tell you something." Light waited patiently, his interest piqued.

L did not know what to say. He did not know how much he could say, without a barrage of questions. But he wanted to make Light feel better. Only then could they both escape the influence that Kira was still holding over them. They needed to bury this.

"The suspicion against you has been fully erased." Light's eyes widened.

"You… you no longer suspect me of being Kira..?" he stammered. L nodded slowly, his gaze slipping past Light to the wall.

"No, I no longer have any suspicion that you are Kira. You are not a suspect as far as I am concerned; official or otherwise." Light paused before speaking. It was a lot to take in. But when he eventually let himself accept it, a warm smile spread across his face.

"Thank you, Ryuuzaki," he said plainly. L nodded, assuming that to be it. He was surprised when Light attempted to hug him. L shrunk away and Light was left with his arms out, awkwardly holding onto the air. They both stared at each other. Things were suddenly uncomfortable again. Light let his arms fall and dropped his eyes to the floor.

"I'm sorry about that; I didn't think it through…"

"No, I was just surprised," L assured him. "I'm not used to it." Light half-smiled.

"What now, then..?" he asked. L shrugged.

"I suppose we must…" but he couldn't finish because he didn't know.

"Catch the real Kira, assuming there is still one out there," Light finished for him, allowing the smile to take further ground on his face.

"Yes… I suppose you're right," L agreed quietly. That would be what they had to do, if they assumed Kira still existed. It was just L that knew he didn't.

He wondered what it was going to cost him to leave this case unfinished. He supposed it was for the better; there would always be some vague fear in the world that Kira could return, so people would be less inclined to act up. It would not be good for his pride; at least not publicly. In private he could be glad that he had won.

Sitting next to him was the loser. Unaware entirely of what his friend was thinking.


	5. Six Months Ago

**Five - Six Months Ago**

Time passed painfully slowly. Light was no longer quite as enthusiastic about catching Kira as he had been, and because he wasn't, L wasn't either. It was hard to be motivated when the person you were looking for did not exist. Everyone else in the taskforce had grown accustomed to the idea that Kira was gone; dead, retired, whatever. Who cared? Matsuda was the only one to vocalise the thought; loudly and repeatedly. Everyone else waited for L. When he said it was over, it was over.

L was not quite yet ready to let go. He didn't know why. Maybe it was his ego; as soon as he said it was game over, it meant he hadn't been able to catch Kira. At least as far as everyone else in the world was concerned. But really, he knew it wasn't that. It couldn't be ego because even if no-one else did, he knew he'd won. That was good enough this time. So why, why couldn't he let the Kira investigation come to a close with the conclusion 'Kira is gone'..?

If it wasn't pride, it was something he didn't understand.

If the Light who had been Kira was still alive, he would have been proud of his handiwork. L probably didn't even remember that he had a tape proving Light guilty. It seemed that last plan to protect himself had worked; even if the Light which remained was probably just as confused about it as L.

Light had been feeling uncomfortable around L ever since he had been cleared by the detective. Maybe it was because he no longer felt he had to prove himself innocent… it was as if a wall between them had been knocked down. And there just so happened to be nothing to say to one another. It would probably have been better if he didn't permanently have the kiss lingering on his mind. He just wanted to know why really, and Ryuuzaki had said it was his fault. It bothered him that he thought about it still after months had passed. But then again, there was not much here to distract him from it.

Misa had stopped coming. Against her will, naturally. She'd visited perhaps twice after she had given up the notebook. Both times Light had made small talk and refused to leave the building with her. The last time that she had come, L had come down at Light's request to meet her too. She had been disappointed by that if not by the disturbingly serious expression on Light's face.

"_I'm sorry Misa; I just don't feel the same way about you as you do about me."_

"_Eh?! But… you're Misa-Misa's boyfriend! If we spent more time together-"_

Light had told her in plain words that it would not matter. He didn't want her to come anymore. She had argued and cried. Eventually, Light had told her that even if he was fond of her, which he was not, then he still didn't have time for her. With tears in her eyes, she had turned on L.

"_You mean you choose this strange, scruffy man over Misa! Would you rather have him, Light?"_

Light had said that it was work he was choosing; not L. After more fighting and yelling and tears Misa had stomped off with one last filthy look at L. Neither of them had seen her since.

Without Misa or Kira, L and Light would have nothing to say to one another. And they didn't really want to have to get to that point just yet.

It was a Tuesday, approximately six months after Kira had disappeared. Light was missing. With nothing better to do, the search for him became fairly frantic. L found him within five minutes of looking. While the rest of the taskforce searched every room in the building and even wandered out into the street, L calmly finished the shortcake he was eating and made his way up to the roof.

Light was stood at the edge of the roof as expected. L watched him in silence for a moment before approaching. Light glanced across at him sombrely. L stopped when there was a foot between them; just enough to remain secure.

"What are you doing out here, Light?" Light merely shrugged. After several moments he answered more substantially.

"I wanted to remember." L felt the guilt creeping again. "Just… why it happened." He turned on L with a perplexed expression on his face. "You said it was your fault," he accused, inviting explanation.

"Yes." L said simply. Light waited. L took one more step towards him. "I think it was." A pause.

Was it his fault? L did not know. He had assumed it was a trick, the last trick, between Kira and himself. Maybe not… He thought back. He remembered how it had felt down to the last detail; it had not been bad. Not that he had an immense amount of precedent behind him. He wanted it to be a mind game. He wanted it to be a trick. He wouldn't be able to deal with it otherwise.

Light wondered back to that day. For the hundredth time he tried to remember how it had felt or why he had done it. All he could come up with, as always, was that as soon as he'd realised what he was doing he had broken away. From shock, he supposed. He had never expected to find himself kissing the unusual L, and so when he had he had simply pulled away from shock. But then why do it in the first place? He didn't know, and every day he tried to remember. It always came back to the same thing; it was L's fault. He'd said as much. But why? What had he done to persuade him? And why, why, why couldn't Light remember it?

L wanted to tell him. It would be alright, wouldn't it..? Light deserved to know. He deserved to know what he had done. But he wouldn't be able to handle it. This new Light, the one who had never been Kira as far as L was concerned, would surely not be able to handle the revelation that he had been the mass murderer he had tried so desperately to catch. Or worse…

Maybe Light would turn back somehow. Then, L would lose everything he had built up by erasing Kira. It would all be pointless. He'd have to execute Light after all this. It was not worth telling him. It was not _fair_ to tell him.

And yet, looking at Light now… He wanted an answer. It was eating him up inside. Part of him was missing and, although he had no idea just how immense a part it was, he wanted to fill it in. So L could not answer him, and yet he had to. It was a hard problem to solve.

Light was tired of waiting; of watching L fade off into a dream world whenever he needed him to say something. It wasn't fair. He could not read L's mind, but if he could, he knew he'd be able to see that L was keeping something from him. Something important. The answer he longed for. He moved forward and grabbed L by the shoulders, his face desperate.

"Just tell me why it happened!" he cried. L's eyes widened with surprise and he bit his lip from guilt. He didn't look away from Light's eyes as much as he would have liked to. He couldn't get away from it now; he had to say something. Light was waiting. He did not know what he'd do if he didn't get an answer.

"Because I wanted it," L said finally. Light frowned. His grip loosened.

"What..?" he asked, utterly confused.

"Because… I wanted it," L said again. He cleared his throat. It was just starting to rain.

He noticed that Light's face had fallen just as his hands followed suit. They hung limply by his sides. He finally had an answer, even if it was insubstantial. He could not question it. L watched something that they had both been holding onto for a long time evaporate. And at that moment he decided to kill off the other thing that tied them to the past. To what had happened six months ago on that rooftop.

"I am going to officially end the Kira investigation tomorrow." Light stared at him. L was serious, and his eyes were on his feet. "Is that OK with you, Light..?" As he asked, his eyes came back to Light's face. He was genuinely asking; it was not just for formalities sake. He wanted to know if Light was also ready to let go.

"Yes," Light said. "Yes, that's the right thing to do."

As Light led the both of them back inside, L wondered how much of what he had just said was true.


	6. Snapshots

**Six - Snapshots**

Elsewhere, rain was beating down heavily on a Victorian roof. The grass had been abandoned hours ago in favour of the common room. The weather was miserable in Winchester.

From his window, one of the residents of the house watched the rain beat down on the garden. Trails ran down the glass with impressive speed. Somewhere in the distance, thunder rumbled. _Average. _

He pulled the curtains together tightly and went back to lie on his bed. With a sigh for the weather, he pulled a chocolate bar from the nightstand and began to unwrap it.

"You may be wondering why I've asked you all to come here this early," L said quietly to the taskforce, with the exception of Light, who was not around. It was sometime close to six in the morning.

"You said it was urgent news about the Kira case," Matsuda dropped in excitedly. "Do you have a new lead..?"

"No," L admitted. Matsuda's face fell, along with everyone else. "But…" They all perked up again. "I have a conclusion."

The police officers who had spent all this time looking for Kira stared in unison. They all thought the same thing: _why hasn't he told us earlier?_

"Kira has given us no new actions for six months now. It is clear that Kira is no more, so, I have concluded that they are either retired or dead. It doesn't matter which because unless they start killing again we will have no more clues. The trail ends here." There was a pause. No-one wanted to ask the question. L answered it anyway. "The Kira case is hereby closed."

Light couldn't help but let his mind wander back to the problem of what was going to happen to him now. In theory, he would finish university; something he had been holding off on for far too long, and eventually join the police force as he had always assumed he would. Except suddenly that seemed awfully flat and dull. He had essentially been serving with the police, better than in fact, for what seemed like forever now. He didn't want to have to go from being the world's greatest detective's right hand man to being a semi-faceless university student. He was too good for that.

He suddenly recalled just how bored he had been with that very routine; studying, working… generally being brilliant. It was not enough. None of it would do if he had to pick up where he had left off.

But, he knew, L was downstairs right now ending the Kira case. As he sat up in the living room he found himself in too often these days, L was cutting the last of their ties. Soon, they would be over.

He mentally scolded himself for referring to him and L as a 'them'. He meant 'it'.

Thankfully, the thunderstorm had subsided for the time-being. But, as anyone who's ever lived in England knows, it was likely but for the evening. In his room, a boy dressed all in white fiddled with a puzzle without really paying it his full attention. He could do this in his sleep.

There came a hurried set of knocks at the door and he called for them to come in without asking who it was or getting to his feet. The puzzle lost even more of his attention.

The door swung open and a figure stood framed in the 'way. They appeared for all intents and purposes to be the polar opposite of the room's occupant; dressed all in black and with sharper features. Their eyes were bright and cool, and, while the other's eyes were also cool, his were dull, grey and empty. The boy in the doorway took a step forward, cautiously, as if stepping on enemy territory and at risk of being shot down.

"Near."

"Mello," Near, the boy in the white, twisted his hair around a finger. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" Mello scowled.

"It's nothing to do with me. At least, seeing you isn't. They want you downstairs."

Near got clumsily to his feet. Every time he did so, Mello watched his feet to see if this would be the time he tripped over his oversized jeans and landed on his face. It had not happened yet, but he didn't lose hope. It did not happen this time either. Near waited patiently for Mello to move out of the way and let him past. Mello obliged, but hung by the wall. As Near reached him on his way past, Mello shot out an arm to stop him from leaving.

"They asked me not to tell you what it was about," Mello whispered.

"Then please don't," Near said dryly. Mello smiled. He let his arm fall and as Near took one more step forward, Mello finished his sentence.

"L is coming back." Mello walked away, leaving Near as a petrified marble statue in the corridor.

By seven in the morning, the taskforce had gone to gather their things and had begun the process of evacuating the headquarters. That was, all for L and Light, the latter of which had not been seen all morning. It was by chance that L found him when wandering the corridors. The door to the living room and been left hanging open, and he caught sight of a figure strewn back across the sofa. Light feeling, he guessed, sorry for himself. He walked in and hovered by the edge of the sofa.

Light glanced over as he saw him enter. He attempted to get up, but for once in his life decided halfway that he didn't care after all and flopped back down. He could certainly care more if L saw him on his back right now.

"Light…"

"Yes, Ryuuzaki..?" came a strained voice in response. L was oddly lost for words around what seemed to be a whole new side to Light. He felt somewhat sorry for him, but would just as gladly have given him a kick and told him to get up and stop the pity-party. He took the high road and did neither.

"I have something to tell you." At that, Light pulled his head up long enough to look at L, then flumped back down again. L cleared his throat loudly.

"I'm going back to England."

Light groaned, although he hoped not loudly enough to be overheard. He had expected that something like this would happen, to be fair, but not at once. Although, why not..? L had probably had some semblance of a life before the Kira case. He probably wanted to get back to it. It certainly wasn't his fault that Light desperately did not want to get back to his own. He wished he'd convinced L to keep the case open a little longer, but reminded himself that he'd only want to prolong things forever and that it was selfish to try and keep someone as skilled and, without mixing words, _useful_ as L on a case that should rightly be finished.

"Oh, OK," he said in the end, much more pitifully than he would have liked. L watched him for a second.

From where he was standing, Light looked fairly pathetic. He was not the person L had grown attached to, at any rate. It occurred to him that he would probably never see Light again after today. Not that there was any reason for him to. He never visited any of his other former suspects. Or co-workers. And he'd never had a friend to visit before. That was probably why he felt distressed at the idea of never seeing him again; he was his first friend. His only friend, especially after Misa had run out on them after everything. He'd grown attached.

"I suppose you're going to go back to university."

"Yes, and you'll be returning to work as a detective on some new case."

"Good luck then."

"You too."

There was a long pause in which they both looked at each other, hoping the other would say something else so that they could keep looking at each other. When neither did, L turned around and took exactly three and a half steps towards the door. Then he turned back around.

"Have you ever been to England, Light..?" L said delicately.

"No," said Light drearily. "I don't think I ever will; it doesn't have anything much to offer me."

"Oh," said L, quietly. "Then you don't want to go."

"Not really, it just doesn't appea-" Light paused. "Unless you're asking me," he added quickly. L shrugged slightly.

"It might be interesting. I think I have perhaps grown attached to you after all this time, Light. I would like it if you came with me."

Light was off the sofa and nose to nose with L in less than three seconds.

"I would be honoured," he said softly, trying his best to be professional and keep the joy out of his voice. It didn't work completely. The smile didn't help. L allowed half a smile in return.

"Good, then I will arrange a flight." As he turned around to go, Light caught him by the shoulder; quickly removing his hand when he'd got the man's attention.

"What will we do in England?"

"Oh, I have a couple of young protégées to check up on. I am sure you'll get on well with them."


	7. Welcome

**Seven - Welcome**

"You've never met them before..?"

"Not as L. Do you really think it would be wise to reveal my identity to a group of teenagers..?"

Light had to give him that one. L and he had arrived in England and were currently being driven to what Light was told was their destination. A place called Wammy's House; an orphanage for the highly gifted who may one day take over as the next L. Apparently there were two boys there who L had already selected as his potential heirs. Light had expected that they'd met many a time and were probably very close. He had envisioned their arrival at which point the two would rush to L and greet him as a long lost friend or parent. Apparently, he had been grievously mistaken. L had in fact seen them before but had never spoken to them and they had no idea who he was. They would certainly not recognise him upon their arrival.

Despite this, L was fully informed on their lives to date. He had briefly described each of them to Light, who had feigned interest. He had no urge to become the third wheel. Or forth, anyway, but that made less sense.

The car dropped them outside an old-fashioned brick building. It was a perfectly pleasant looking place, and children played around the steps. Light got out of the car and went to meet L at his side. The two made their way up the steps; children scattering in their wake. Apparently they were not used to visitors.

"I will go and tell Rodger we've arrived, Light, please feel free to get a feel for the place in the meantime. I may be awhile with the arrangements." Light nodded and wandered off on his own.

As L attempted to locate the office without the greatest of luck, he passed by the common room. The door had been left wide open and the room's occupants fully visible. L paused. At the foot of the door sat a boy dressed all in white whom he recognised, playing with a puzzle. After a few moments, the boy became aware of the fact that he was being observed by an unknown, and looked up at the perpetrator. L stared in his usual, unnerving manner but the boy seemed unfazed. After about a minute L wandered off on his search again.

Meanwhile, Light had managed to get thoroughly lost in the many winding corridors of the relatively small building. He felt relatively secure that L would send a search party if too much time passed with him missing, so was not too worried until he was stopped short by a figure in the centre of the corridor.

The boy was dressed all in black. He was fairly slight and several years younger than Light, so logically of no threat to him. There was something menacing about him, however; something which Light was not fond of. He glanced over his shoulder to see if the boy was staring at someone behind him. He was not.

"Who are you?" he asked, and Light was taken aback by the viciousness of his tone. The boy glared at him. "Who are you?" he asked again.

"I-I'm Light Yagami." Surely there were visitors here occasionally? What was wrong with the child..? "I'm a guest." The boy narrowed his eyes.

"I know. You're too old to be a resident, and you're too young to be a teacher." After a second's hesitation, the boy seemed to ease up a little; his shoulders slumped into a normal position and his face cleared. "I was wondering if you came here with L."

"What?" Light's mouth went dry. Either this boy was very astute or very paranoid. Either way, L had not, as far as he knew, announced his arrival to anyone. There was no way this boy could know that L had been expected. Unless… "Who are you..?"

"Did you come here with L?" The aggression started to return to his voice.

"If I did, I would not be allowed to tell you," Light said simply, and turned on his heel. It was a reasonable enough thing to say.

Light managed to find his way to the office just in time to be told that L had already been shown to an empty classroom for his purposes. Light was taken there. When he arrived, he found L in his usual sitting position in a chair at the front of the room. L nodded first to Light's escort who nodded back and left, closing the door behind them. He then motioned for Light to sit next to him. He did.

"What are we doing here, Ryuuzaki?" he asked. L winced.

"Light, Ryuuzaki is a name I use with my co-workers during cases. Please call me L from here on." Light, somewhat deflated, nodded.

"What are we doing, though..?" he had a suspicion.

"We are going to meet the two I told you about. With Kira gone I feel it is safe to reveal my identity to them alone for the time being."

"Ah," Light replied. A thought struck him and he turned to L with a frown. "Wait a moment, does this mean that the staff here know that you are L..?" L smiled to himself.

"No, they believe you are the current L. I assured them I was merely your entourage." L took a little pleasure in the shocked expression Light had acquired. Before anything else could be said, there was a knock on the door. L answered it only to find the two boys he and Light had already met that day. He ushered them in and invited them to sit.

"Hello. If you would not mind, could the two of you please introduce yourselves..?" L asked flatly. The boy in black shot daggers at Light, whom he now knew had avoided telling him anything. The boy in white, who had positioned himself on the floor, kept his eyes on the floor at all times.

"I am Near," he said.

"I am Mello," said the other.

"It is good to meet you both. I am L," said L quietly. Mello's eyes widened with what could only be described as adoration. Near looked up from the floor with a trace of the same emotion; better disguised, but still there. Light merely watched them all.

"You probably have some questions," L began. "But first I would ask that neither of you address me as L outside of this room. As far as everyone else is concerned, this is L." He gestured to Light, who glanced over to him. "But I would ask that you do not bring attention to it. Just know that if you ask for L, it is Light that you will get. Am I clear?" Both of the boys nodded. "Good. Do either of you have anything you would like to say to me?"

Neither of them said anything, although it was clear that at least Mello was desperate to. L gave them ten seconds, then began to speak again.

"If you have nothing to say, then allow me to tell you a little about what is going to happen now that I am here…"

An hour later, after hearing about L's plans to properly prepare them to be his successors, Near and Mello were allowed to leave. Light noticed with mild contempt that they both looked up at him throughout his lengthy speech as if transfixed. Even when they were told they could go, it was a few seconds before either moved.

L informed Light halfway up the stairs that he had requested they be put in a single room. It would be easier that way; and probably safer too, just in case. Besides, they would have their own beds and they'd slept in the same room before. Light mumbled agreement.

The room was actually quite comfortable. There was one large window overlooking a spot of the garden. The beds were on opposite sides of the room. Someone had already brought their bags up as Light's suitcase and the small bag which L had brought with him were neatly placed on the end of one of the beds. Light sat himself beside them and pulled his case towards him. L joined him on the bed and watched him begin to sort through his things. Light instantly became aware of the attention on him and found himself moving much slower.

"Did you like Mello and Near..?" L asked casually, though his eyes never left Light. Light glanced at him and shrugged, at once returning to the clothes he was organizing. "They seemed different in person," L went on, partially just to himself. "But I suppose I did imagine them as just being smaller versions of myself. That is one of the reasons I wanted to meet them; so far, they've just been concepts to me. It is also why I wanted your opinion."

"Oh..?" Light said, distractedly. L continued regardless.

"Did they seem a lot like me to you..? Or completely different." Light gave up on getting his things sorted and placed his case on the floor with a sigh.

"No. Near appears to have similar mannerisms, but other than that I see no personal resemblance between the three of you." L nodded slowly. When he did not speak again, Light allowed himself a moment of frankness. "To be honest, L, I can't imagine another person like you."

"I see. And is that a compliment or an insult, Light..?" Light smiled in a manner best described as shy.

"Personally, I would view it as a compliment," he said quietly.

"Ah. Well, I think you are probably right, Light." He paused. "Although if there is anyone else like me, I suppose you come quite close to the mark."

The silence which followed was laden. Their eyes followed each other, but neither made a single movement. They were each trying to solve the riddle of what the other was thinking. It was impossible in both cases. In the end, it was Light who gave in. He did so unconsciously. It was not something he could have made a conscious decision about, but if he had been able to think, he would have been both baffled and pleased.

He brushed L's cheek with his fingertips; pushing them into the mane of black hair. L waited patiently without moving things forward on his own. It was one of the few areas of life in which he was utterly clueless. Light held back for a second, allowing the moment to stretch, then drew the detective into a kiss. He held it briefly before pulling back again.

"Sorry," Light said softly, his voice lacking conviction. L smiled with a refreshing honesty Light had not seen before.

"Am I supposed to tell you you should be or forgive you..?" he said coyly. Light laughed.

He kissed him again and held it for longer. And then, for a third time.


	8. Shock

**Eight - Shock**

In the morning, L went off to meet with Mello and Near once more. Light stayed in the room by himself and stared out of the window; flicking, from time to time, through various books he had brought with him. Around noon he gave up on staying occupied up there alone and made his way out to the garden to stroll.

L spent the best part of the morning and a little of the afternoon regaling the two potential heirs of his with stories of his work as L. Regardless of the less savoury details; the body count and details of, they both seemed engrossed and unshaken. Neither seemed to have lost the will to follow in his footsteps at any rate. Eventually L excused them and promised to see them again tomorrow.

Light bored of the garden quickly; not least because wherever he went there were children playing. He decided to wander off and explore the town. From what L had told him, it was quite impossible to get lost in Winchester.

L was slightly surprised when he returned to the room and Light was no longer installed in it. But, he assured himself, Light was not one to sit still with nothing to do for hours on end. He must have gone off exploring.

Near had immediately returned to the common room to while away the afternoon. Mello had followed him. Admittedly, he was not fond of Near's company. Not that it could be called company. That was essentially the same as calling an ice sculpture 'company'. Near didn't seem too keen on the idea either, or perhaps he always ignored people when they sat with him. At any rate, Mello quickly tired of sitting in silence and got to the point.

"Who do you think he's going to choose?" Near didn't look up or answer. Mello scowled. He nudged the other boy's shoulder. "I'm talking to you. Which of us do you think he's going to choose?"

"I'm sure you have as good an idea as me, Mello," Near said flatly. "Although perhaps you should rephrase that."

"What are you talking about?" Mello snapped. Near looked over at him with a bored frown. He didn't seem to believe that Mello hadn't noticed it as well.

"I mean you shouldn't say 'which of _us_' when there is a third candidate." Mello glared at Near.

"What the hell are you talking about? There's no-one else." Near sighed lightly.

"Then you don't think L has considered the teenager he brought with him..? Light, I believe, was his name. He's even asked him to use the name L." Mello froze. He hadn't considered it, but now that he did, it made perfect, complete, horrible sense.

"He wouldn't do that," Mello muttered.

"Why not..? L never promised that he would choose one of us."

"What do you mean?" Mello snarled. "It _has_ to be one of us!"

"Why? If he's found someone better then I don't see why he shouldn't choose them over us. Especially if they're older and more prepared than we are." Mello thought he noticed a hint of venom in Near's voice, but it was clouded over by the usual cold tone.

"But this is what we've worked towards all our lives… You want to sit back and let someone else take it?" Mello spat. Near shook his head.

"It's just a possibility. You may be right; perhaps he is just one of L's lackeys from abroad. I just asked you to consider rephrasing your question." There was a lengthy pause. Mello gazed off into space, aghast. Eventually, he nudged Near's shoulder again to get his attention.

"If he is considering the _three_ of us… what are the chances he already chose Light..?"

"High. I would say about eighty percent, but I'm no expert on these things."

Light returned around six in the afternoon. He'd spent the day wandering aimlessly around the town. From what he gathered, it was a very traditional place. Typical of England. That meant, in layman's terms, that there was nothing to occupy his interest for long enough and he'd had to come back sooner than he'd hoped. He had no idea what he would say to L when he saw him.

Unenthusiastically, he made his way up to their room, wondering if L would already be there waiting for him. When he opened the door, he saw that he was there, but busy. L appeared to be immersed in various reports and files which lay scattered around his side of the room. Light felt uncomfortably like he was disturbing him.

"Ah, Light, you're back. Would you mind helping me with this..?" Light was surprised to be called upon but remembered that the very reason L had asked him to come with him in the first place was to help him work. Nothing else. Work. He dismissed the other thoughts from his mind and went over to assist in the sifting through of paperwork.

L had not, as he had thought, taken on another case. The paperwork was all to do with Mello and Near. It appeared to have every test score dating back to their initial arrival at the orphanage as well as behaviour reports and, well, everything about them that could possibly be committed to paper. L, as excepted, had read it all through before, but wanted to go over it again now that he had an impression of them. Light should help him and together they could build up a decent enough mental picture and hopefully decide who would be the next L.

Light asked jokingly if this meant L thought he was going to die or retire any time soon. L had assured him reprovingly that he wanted to be prepared, but that he did not expect to die soon. He would never retire. After an hour, L called a stop to the work.

"What do you think?" he asked simply. Light frowned.

"…Of what, exactly..?" L shot him a look which told him he should know better.

"Which of them do you think would do better as the next L..?"

"Oh," Light hesitated and let his thoughts catch up. "Well… to be honest it's hard to tell, seeing as they're both still young and obviously not prepared as of yet. And still… I don't think either of them could ever live up to you. I'm probably biased, but I can't see either of them as a whole picture. It seems they both lack something which the other makes up for. As a pair, they would make a perfect L. Separately… I think Mello appears to be too impulsive and Near lacks the emotional capacity." He paused, trying to think of a way to reassure L. He didn't want to insult what was the best he had to offer. "They will learn in time, I'm sure," he added eventually. There was a moment as L digested what Light had said before he spoke.

"That is almost exactly what I was thinking. Although I must disagree with the last part; if they do not have the qualities by this point, it is not likely they will acquire them in the future."

"Then what do you plan to do..?" Light asked slowly.

"I'm not sure. Ideally, I would prefer it if they worked together, but as far as I can tell from meeting them and reading their files, that would be impossible." He frowned, biting down on his thumb in thought. "Their minds are perfect, but they certainly won't be able to succeed L unless they compensate for the flaws in their personalities."

"I see," Light murmured. "It seems that despite it being in their best interests, it would be impossible for them to work as a team. It's worrying that two people who have the potential to do so brilliantly together are unable to for such a pathetic reason…"

"Yes. It would be much better if they took after our example, Light," L smiled. Light shrugged.

"I seem to remember having a similar problem when you were convinced I was Kira," Light said spitefully. As soon as it had escaped from his mouth he bit down hard on his lip and wished it hadn't. He looked over at L whose smile had disappeared and who stared darkly back. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," he said quickly. L looked away.

"You are right, Light. I was convinced you were Kira and I did let it hinder what turned out to be a perfect working relationship. Although I seem to remember that being behind us. I suppose I was wrong," L said with equal malice. They both frowned. L especially, as he had more reason not to want the topic to resurface.

"It is behind us. I just saw something similar and was reminded of it… that is all."

"Then that is even more reason for Near and Mello to stay apart." Light looked with surprise at L.

"What do you mean? I thought you said it would be better if they did work together..?"

"Yes," L said quietly. "Until you reminded me what it was like to work with someone I had such a conflict with. I would not want them to have to endure that."

"It's hardly the same!" Light found himself speaking louder than he would have liked. "You accused me of being a serial killer; they simply don't see eye to eye! Besides…" He quietened down. "I like where we are now. I think we _are_ past all that."

"So do I," L muttered. "But I do not want you to bring it up again. It is over. Kira is over."

"OK," said Light. He smiled softly. L looked at him and allowed a trace of a smile to grace his lips. They sat for a moment in silence, then Light began to pile the papers up. "Let's sort this out, then perhaps we can go and take a walk..?"

"Very well Light." L joined him in the organisation of paperwork. It took them twenty minutes to sort. As L reached out to put the last folder on the stack, he froze. Light looked over at him in confusion. L staggered. He started to fall backwards, but Light caught him before he could hit the floor.

"What's wrong, L..?" he whispered, his eyes widening with fear and shock. L stared up at him in horror. He couldn't speak. "L..?!" L's eyes remained fixed on Light's face; looking for any sense of triumph. Any hint at all that he was lying. He knew, even in this state, that it was impossible. But as soon as he'd felt his heart stutter, he knew what it was. This was the work of a Death Note. As his eyes began to close, his only thought was that he was glad it wasn't Light after all. He wouldn't have been able bear it.

Light shook him, crying out his name, letter, but it made no difference. L's eyes closed still focused on his. After a minute he gave in and checked L's pulse. Dead. He had died of a heart attack. He wanted to scream. But as soon as he did, he knew someone would come. And then it would be real. So he kept silent. He brushed L's messy hair out of his face with one hand and kissed his dead friend on the forehead. And then, and only then, did he scream.


	9. In the Meanwhile

**Nine - In the Meanwhile**

On the other side of the world, in a dimly lit apartment, a giggle could be heard.

The room was painted black. The furniture was also in dark shades; black and red, and purple for the bedspread. Dolls sat on shelves with a company of crucifixes and candles. On the bed, wearing a long black t-shirt and with her hair in bunches, lay a girl. She giggled. Clutched tightly to her chest was a notebook.

"I can't believe it! I just wish I could check." If anyone had been there with her, they would have thought she was talking to herself. As it happened, she was not alone. Across from her stood a figure in no way human, all in black with a painted, fixed smile. It was to him she spoke as she held tightly to the notebook and laughed. She rolled onto her front to look at him and when she did she was smiling.

"You won't tell me where Misa's Light is now, will you Ryuk..?" The figure shook their head and the girl pouted.

"I did what you asked me to do, isn't that enough? You still have to hold up your end of the bargain."

"Of course, Misa will, she just wanted to know where Light was," the girl said sulkily. The shinigami sniggered.

"Then let's go."

After much walking they came across an empty park. Misa, who carried a plastic bag, tucked herself down behind a row of bushes. When she was entirely certain the coast was clear, she opened the bag to reveal many, many apples. She held one out and Ryuk gratefully took it. She watched him eat it before turning the bag over to him.

"Is he definitely dead?" she asked in a low voice. The shinigami seemed loathe to pull away from the apples to answer.

"Yeah, he is. But I'm still not gonna tell you where Light is." Misa pouted once again and blew through her fringe in annoyance.

"Why? Misa gave you all the apples you could eat, and I'll get you lots more later on!"

"Sorry. It wouldn't be any fun if I did everything for you."

"I guess it's enough for now that you killed L…" She smiled in her usual sweet way. "But I'm going to find Light now, by myself if I have to. And then I'll give him back his memories just as he wanted!"

--

After Ryuk had flown away from Light that day six months ago, he had indeed gone and dug up the notebook then returned to the shinigami realm. He had occasionally watched what Light was doing with amusement; it was funny to watch the former Kira trying desperately to catch what he didn't know was himself. Then, the day before L's death, he had returned to the human realm and handed the notebook back to Misa.

For the past months she had been brooding and sulking over the loss of Light. She still modelled occasionally but her heart was no longer in it and she had essentially lost her status as a household name. Nothing could fill the void left when Light had told her to go away, and she blamed L for it all. From the nights spent crying into her pillow to the scruffy voodoo doll of the famous detective, she planned and plotted a revenge she knew she would never accomplish. She felt a wave of relief when she heard on the news that the Japanese taskforce and L had finished the Kira case. L had fallen from grace at least a little, and she hoped that maybe Light would come back to her now. He hadn't… But her memories had.

She was so proud that Light had beaten L. Now all he needed was her. Then they'd be together once again. She had to kill L; that was the plan.

Ryuk had initially refused, saying it was not his business to take sides and Light was lucky he'd done this much. Misa had begged and pleaded. Eventually she had promised him a lifetime's supply of apples. Then she had assured him it would be so much fun. It would surely be better than the boring months he had spent doing nothing. Ryuk had agreed. And then he flew off to find L, wrote his name down, watched him die and flew back again.

Misa had asked at one point why Ryuk had brought her Death Note back to her. Why not Rem for a start..? She had not seen Rem for a long time. She'd briefly forgotten her. Ryuk informed her that when Light had given up ownership of all the notebooks in his possession he had also given up ownership of the one which currently belonged to Rem. His guess was Rem was still attached to that notebook, wherever it was.

Although Ryuk and Misa did not know it, Rem had long since taken the notebook back to the shinigami realm. Misa had been entirely cleared of suspicion and was away from the troublesome Light, so she was safe watching her from afar. The taskforce had not checked on the notebook since shortly after Kira's supposed retirement. They had no idea it was gone.

Ryuk went on to tell Misa of Yagami Light's last real plan to return to Kira in the future. When Misa had returned ownership of the notebook to Light over the phone, Ryuk had been forced to go and find Light. Just as L called her back to check she had indeed renounced her ownership, Ryuk had floated into the room, unseen by the detective. Light had, however, seen him and turned his face away from L in the same way as he had to kill Higuchi. L was occupied by the phone call and assumed Light was sulking having lost their battle of wits. In fact, Light was plotting. He mouthed some words to Ryuk:

'_Give Misa notebook back six months_'

Those six silent words were all it had taken to seal L's fate.


	10. I am L

**Ten - I am L**

Everyone at the orphanage knew that something had happened, but no-one knew what. That was, except for Light and Rodger. Although only Light knew the true identity of the victim. As far as Rodger was concerned, L was perfectly alive, if terribly shaken up about the sudden death of his friend, and sitting in his office. Light asked to speak to Mello and Near. In private.

Neither knew exactly why they had been summoned, but assumed it had something to do with the hushed whispering in the corridors between adults and the eerie fatigue which had descended on the house. They arrived together outside L's room.

"What do you think it's about?" Mello muttered before he knocked on the door.

"You guess is as good as mine," replied Near quietly.

Light sat on the floor when they went in, in the same spot as L had been last. He motioned for them to come over, and they moved to sit in front of him. He took a deep breath before allowing himself to say it.

"L is dead."

Mello and Near both froze. They'd seen him yesterday… How could it have happened? A heart attack..? But that meant… Kira was… Yes. Kira had returned.

"That's impossible!" Mello shouted, slamming his fists onto the floor. Near glanced over to him warily.

"I'm sorry…" Light whispered. "But it's true. It seems Kira somehow found L's name, and… Well, I think the result speaks for itself."

"I will not believe it! Kira was gone. Kira _is_ gone." Mello continued to shout for a while and Light and Near sat in silence. When he was done, his expression turned serious and he looked hard at Light. "Well… which one of us is it..?"

"Oh, I'd almost forgotten that part…" Light muttered, hardly consciously in the room. This did not please Mello.

"Stop it! Stop sulking like this! We have to catch Kira now, we _have_ to, so which one of us did L pick?" Light stared ruefully at them.

"He didn't," he said at last. "He refused to pick."

"What do you mean?" said Near, finally speaking up much to Mello's surprise.

"He said that neither of you could ever become the next L, not unless you compensate for your personal shortcomings by working as a team."

The pause that followed was long and weighted. Eventually, it was Near that broke it.

"That sounds acceptable." Mello glared at him with disgust.

"I refuse to work with you. I can't work with you!"

"Oh?" snapped Light. The boys stared at him in shock due to the new sharp edge to his voice. He glowered back. "Is that it, then? You refuse to work with him so you are going to just let Kira get _away_ with it..? That's pathetic! How _dare_ you!" Mello shrunk back. Light turned on Near. "And you aren't even going to try and convince him! You are just as willing to give up on this so soon." Light got to his feet, curling one hand into a fist and holding it with the other. "I refuse to let Kira get away. I absolutely refuse to let L down."

After a few seconds, Mello got slowly to his feet as well. His expression had cleared and he simply looked determined now.

"Alright. I agree, I will not let L down either, even if it means I must work with Near to do so. It is only fair." Near did not stand, but he did tilt his head up with a similar look to Mello on his face.

"And neither will I. Although… I do have one question, if that is alright."

"What?" asked Light, much more calmly now. Near curled a lock of hair around his fingers.

"Why did you not take the title for yourself..? If I'm right, you could certainly wield it well enough and it would save the conflict between Mello and I." Light thought before answering.

"Because I don't think I deserve it…" he said finally. "Although… I want to catch Kira now more than ever, and I worked closely with L for a long time. I just…"

He looked down at the two boys with him. Neither of them was L, and they never would be. But they both had elements of L in them. They were, in fact, the closest he would ever see to L ever again. They were all that was left… other than him.

"We should all work together. All of us. That is, I believe, what L… what he would have wanted." Near and Mello both nodded.

"But you have to be L," Mello said quietly, catching the other two by surprise. "You knew him best. It's only right."

"Alright." Light smiled sadly. "Then from this day on; I am L."


	11. The New World

**Eleven - The New World**

Over the next six years, the world became a different place. The people accepted that Kira had disappeared briefly, but had now returned to finish their work. L, and as far as anyone was concerned the same L as always, continued the search for Kira without any success. Kira became popular. The world became one of two halves, and more and more fell on the side of Kira every day.

Misa, now happily filling Light's old shoes, killed criminals as she had done once long ago. She never killed as many as Light had, but it was enough for people to know Kira was out there. And as long as the people knew, Light knew. One day she would find a way to contact him, restore his memories and then they could rule the new world together as they had planned. Except that this time, she was the one leading the operation.

Misa managed to mimic Light's old style rather well, and as such left no new leads for the police or for L. Light's memory of her had faded somewhat and she remained to him just as an old 'friend' who had got involved in the Kira investigation. Not that he ever thought about her, he had no reason to, but if he had then she would not have been on his list of suspects. Why should she be? He'd long since forgotten that she was Kira. Or that he was.

As time went by, people lost faith in L. Light lost faith in himself. He couldn't catch Kira… he wasn't as good as L. He didn't deserve the title. Surprisingly enough it was Mello who one day quietly pointed out that L had not been able to catch Kira or even come close. It was not Light's fault that Kira refused to offer them any new leads. All they could grasp was that somewhere out there was a person who happened to watch the news or read newspapers and therefore knew the faces of criminals which they killed. They had a notebook and the shinigami eyes. There was nothing else. Still, Light refused to close the case until Kira was caught. One day, he promised himself, something would come up. He would win this one for L. He had to.

Back in Tokyo, Misa clung to a similar hope. One day, she would find a way to contact L, who she knew very well must be Light by now, and then… That was what she didn't know. She needed help. The world was adapting to Kira and supporters were everywhere. Misa was used to getting by on looks and talent like any model. She'd realised shortly after the original L's death that if she and Light were to be together, it would take more than that. Although she was not as stupid as people usually supposed, it would take a genius to outwit L. Somewhere in the growing sea of Kira fans, she would wager, there was just the one. She just had to find them.

One of the big questions facing the L trio was why Kira had disappeared. If they could crack that, perhaps, they could catch Kira. Near suggested one afternoon a few months into the investigation that it was a different Kira. After the notebook had been explained, it seemed logical. Light had analyzed the idea. The 'new' Kira killed exactly the same sorts of people as the old Kira, although they killed far less. Maybe they were someone else; although for that to be true then they were an excellent mimic. The theory was put on hold. Maybe it was right and maybe it was not. Either way, it didn't really help them. They were still at a loss.

The killing of Japanese criminals was still marginally higher than in other countries, so, after Mello and then Near had turned sixteen the three of them returned to Japan to continue work from there. Light decided eventually that they should just move back to the taskforce… L's old headquarters. It had been empty since the original Kira case had been dismissed. It still belonged to L. So it was his now. They spent the next three years working tirelessly there, but at no point did they even come close to catching Kira. There were no leads, no witnesses… there weren't even victims in the traditional sense. There seemed to be nothing they could do, but none of them were willing to quit; least of all Light.

So it was, one morning in Tokyo six years or so on from the secret death of the original L. In her apartment, Misa awoke with a smile, knowing that today was going to be special. She poured herself some tea and scribbled a few names in the notebook in advance. As she sipped, she fetched an apple which she left on the table for Ryuk. When she was done with her tea, she got dressed in one of her favourite outfits, and also one of her prettiest, did her make-up as beautifully as she could and practiced her most endearing smile in the mirror. She then slid the Death Note back inside a woman's magazine which she placed in the middle of a stack of others inside a draw which she then locked. She placed the key inside her purse and made for the door.

Across the city, Near woke up and immediately regretted having to do so. He reached for the clock on the nightstand, knocking a few papers to the floor in doing so, and turned it towards him. He was only one hour late in getting up. He sighed, rolled over, and wished he didn't have to go and join the other two right now. Especially Mello. Speaking of Mello, where was he? He should have woken him up. Near left the safety of the bed and searched around on the floor for his clothes. It was hard to find anything in this mass of paperwork and discarded clothing. He wished Mello kept his room as tidy as Near kept his own. Retrieving his shirt from underneath the bed, Near asked himself why he kept doing this if he just ended up complaining, albeit to himself, in the morning.

--

_**A/N -**_

_Hello. I usually refrain from placing Author Notes within stories as I find they break up the flow._ _However, I'd just like to_ _put one in at this point. I would like to suggest that everyone who has forgotten go back and read the prelude at the start of the first chapter if they want more ground to speculate on the ending of this fanfic. _

_I'd also like to thank you all for your reviews and support, but also remind you that I have in fact long since finished writing this story and am just uploading it slowly. I don't want you to think I'm ignoring any suggestions you may make; it' just that I've already finished everything. Sorry! Still, thank you very very much - reviews are bested only by Cadbury chocolate and a perfect pair of Doc Martens in my opinion. _

_On the side, if any of you are particularly interested, I added a brief 'about' section on my profile for those of you who wonder what warped person is behind these stories._


	12. Partner

**Twelve - Partner**

"Good Morning, Near," Light called out as he noticed the teenager enter the room. He tactfully pointed to the coffee pot. Near tried to ignore Mello scowling at him from across the room as he poured a cup of coffee and came over to them.

"You're up awfully late Near. Didn't you get much sleep..?" Mello asked him sarcastically and offered a spiteful smile. Near ignored it. Light cleared his throat to get their attention back. This sort of back-and-forth happened more and more between the two of them and he reminded himself for the fiftieth time not to ask them what it was about. Although he could probably have guessed.

"There were four deaths last night; three heart attacks and one car accident, but they were all relatively serious criminals so we can assume they were all the work of Kira…" Light began.

"Why are we still doing this?" Mello cut in. "Every morning it's exactly the same thing. We don't need to go through it everyday do we..? It's not as if we're getting anywhere…" He was obviously in one of his least pleasant moods today. These were happening more as of late as well; it seemed the more time went by without success, the more frustrated Mello got and the less Near spoke. Light only grew more determined and more desperate.

"We're still doing this because it's our _job_," spat Light. "And we're going to keep doing it until it's done." That shut Mello up for the best part of the morning.

_Ah Kira… if only I knew what you were doing right now. _Light thought to himself, his eyes narrowing into a frown.

Misa took her seat in the very back row of the audience. She prodded the number bearing badge pinned to her chest and did her best to smile. She sat with various others waiting for the start of the Kira's Kingdom show; a programme which spread the word of Kira to supporters across the globe and, more importantly, got some of the best ratings of any broadcast in recent years. The audience was usually filled with some of the most zealous supporters of Kira. If she was going to find her second anywhere, it would probably be here.

The programme itself was utter rubbish and she found herself completely ignoring the announcer on stage. Instead, she searched the audience for a likely candidate. About quarter of an hour in, she saw them. Towards the front and to the left of her a bit was a man probably the same sort of age as her. His dark hair covered his face from the side, but she was at just the right angle to catch a glimpse of his expression. His face was cold, serious and… harsh. He sent a shiver down her spine without even looking at her. Somehow she knew that he would be perfect for the job.

After the broadcast, Misa made her way to the back of the building in which she suspected she would find the file room. She'd made a mental note of the man's badge number and would be able to find his details easily enough if she could get in. It took her awhile, but she found the room; with one guard stood outside. This shouldn't be too hard for her. Putting on her brightest, cutest smile she approached.

"Excuse me." The guard turned at the sound of a female voice. He smiled warmly at the young woman.

"Can I help you, miss?" He paused. "You know come to think of it, you look awfully familiar." Misa suppressed the joy she felt, knowing she had won.

"Oh yes, I'm Misa-Misa. I'm a model." His face brightened as he recognised her. "I was just wondering if I could see a certain file..?"

"I don't know about that, Miss Misa. The files are strictly confidential." He frowned as he said it, obviously wishing he could help her out. She was going to make sure he could. She put on a pout, hoping she looking adorably agreeable.

"Oh please, please, please! You see I recognised an old friend in the audience who I lost contact with a long time ago; I'm dying to catch up with them and it would mean the _world_ to me if you could help!" The guard's resolve evidently weakened and he smiled.

"Well… if it's just the one file I suppose there's no harm in that. I can't let you in the room though; some rules have to be kept." He tapped his nose and winked. "Which file do you need?"

Misa walked out ten minutes later after writing an autograph and getting the man's address from the obliging guard. She smiled happily to herself knowing that this man was going to bring her closer to Light once more. Mikami Teru. She'd go and see him at once.

After putting in another hard day of work sorting through the same data and tirelessly scrutinizing the newest deaths; Light, Near and Mello retired for the night. Light's room was on a higher floor to the other two, so he bid them goodnight and went his way. Near made his way down the corridor to his own room, followed by Mello. Just as he reached for the door handle, Mello rested a hand on his shoulder. Near tensed at once and refused to turn around to look at him.

"Are you going to bed?" Mello muttered by his ear.

"Yes, thank you Mello," Near replied coolly. Mello placed a finger on his chin and tilted his head so that they were looking at one another. He smiled slyly.

"Are you sure..?" Near swallowed. He did not like having to go through this so often. Mostly because he never won.

"I am," he said. Mello sighed.

"My, you're really holding out tonight. Is it because I let you sleep in this morning? I'm sorry; you just looked so peaceful… I didn't want to wake you." Near knew he was lying, he knew because it always came down to something like this. And yet the words were still like honey. When Mello wanted something, he always seemed to get it. At least from him. Still, he didn't want to give in tonight.

"No, Mello. I'm sick of this. I'm going to go to bed now and I think you should do the same."

Mello let him reach out to try and open the door again, but as soon as Near pressed down on the handle, he grabbed him, flipped him around and pushed the boy against the wall. Near almost gasped, but managed to contain it just in time, even though he'd been expecting it. Mello pushed Near's fringe out of his eyes and kissed him roughly. He wrapped his arms around his skinny waist and kept him pressed firmly up against the wall. He kissed his neck, then again on the mouth. They were there for a few minutes before Mello pulled away, keeping one hand against the wall on either side of Near.

"Now…" he said softly. "Are you going to do what I tell you..?" Near nodded. "I thought so." He grabbed the boy by the shirt sleeve and pulled him with him into his room.

No-one had answered the door when Misa had first gone to the address. Or the second time. Or the third. She had taken to going there every hour or so, knocking on the door, waiting and then, when there was no answer, returning to a small café down the street to wait for the next chance. Finally, some time past nine in the evening, when she knocked she heard footsteps approach the door inside.

The man she had seen at the broadcast opened the door. If anything, he looked more terrifying now that she saw him full on. His dark hair fell down past his shoulders and he was still smartly dressed in the same suit he had been wearing that morning. He glowered at her and for a moment she was tempted to run away. He was perfect… but he was unbelievably frightening.

"What do you want, miss..? I'm rather busy," he said in an impatient tone. Misa briefly struggled to find her voice. That seemed to annoy him more.

"I came here on behalf of…" she stuttered. His eyes narrowed with growing impatience.

"Of who?" he snapped. Misa took a deep breath and when she had, her courage was restored. This was for Light.

"Kira." His eyes widened. Misa smiled, but it was not her usual, girlish smile. It was a proud smile.

"My name is Amane Misa. But you, Mikami Teru, may call me Kira."


	13. Never Equal

**Thirteen - Never Equal**

At first he had not believed her. Who would? This was a sweet looking young woman claiming to be Kira. It seemed impossible. Then she offered to prove it if he let her in. Mikami faltered, but after a moment he decided to let her try and prove herself.

He led her into a small living room and offered her a seat. Misa sat, and removed a scrap of paper from her purse. He stared at it without much hope, but she seemed confident.

"Please turn on the television to any live broadcast," she requested, pulling a pen out of her bag and waiting. Mikami obliged, flicking to a news programme. Misa stared hard at the announcer for a moment then wrote something down. She kept watching the screen with a little smile. Mikami was about to ask her to leave, when the announcer keeled over. He stared dumbstruck at the screen for a moment before slowly turning to look at Misa. She smiled.

After a few hours of conversation in which Misa relayed her past, her plan and, of course, the mechanics of the Death Note, she told her new partner that she had to go. It was interesting watching his sudden change in attitude; the man who had greeted her coldly at the door now went out of his way to make sure she had everything she wanted. He opened the front door to let her go, and she turned to say goodbye.

"I'm sorry I doubted you, Miss Kira," he said in a low voice. Misa giggled.

"As long as you help me, you are forgiven." She skipped away down the street and he watched her with awe. Kira had contacted him… It was amazing.

Near awoke the next morning, again to find himself in Mello's bed. He noticed, again, that Mello had left without bothering to wake him up. At least he was only twenty minutes late this time.

When he arrived in the office, Light greeted him by yelling at him.

"Where have you been? There's been a development in the case!" Near froze. A development? There hadn't been one… well, ever.

"I'm sorry," he said absently. "I overslept." Light frowned.

"Mello got here on time. From what I gather that means it's perfectly possible to do so. You only have to walk an extra foot to the office from your room." Near wanted to point out that, once again, it was Mello's fault he was late. Especially when Mello smiled sweetly at him; the picture of innocence. But that would have been unprofessional. He took the high road and asked about the case.

Apparently, last night, around half past nine, an announcer from a news programme had been killed with a heart attack. The announcer had occasionally made anti-Kira statements but had by no means been a nuisance. The death was definitely the work of Kira, and yet Kira had not killed any innocents since before his disappearance six years ago. That meant that something unusual had happened on his end, and he had had to improvise with, assumedly, a last minute death. This was the best lead they'd had in a long time. It also clarified that Kira was currently in Japan, as the news programme was only broadcasted within Japan, and that Kira had been watching it at half nine as it was live. This was something at least, and it suggested that this Kira may well be the same as the original Kira, as they were operating in the same area as before.

Mello, Near and Light spent the day studying the new knowledge and composing theories, but without any suspects, progress was limited. They could only know that Kira had been watching the broadcast, and that something unexpected had come up for him to force him to kill the announcer. That was not going to be enough on its own.

Things finally drew to a close around midnight when Light said they should really get some sleep as they were going to have to get straight back into things tomorrow. As Near and Mello began to make their way towards the exit, Light called out.

"Mello, can you hold on a moment. I just want to talk to you." Mello and Near both stopped. Mello frowned.

"What about..?" he asked cautiously. Light didn't turn around to answer.

"Oh… nothing important. It won't take long." Mello glanced at Near who stared back at him before making his way swiftly out of the room. Mello sighed quietly to himself and approached Light.

"What is it?" When Light heard the door click closed behind Near, he spun around in his chair to face Mello.

"We're at an important part in the case, I can feel it. I need both you and Near for this, so whatever it is you're doing to him, please can you stop it." Mello stared at him in shock for a few seconds. Then he glared.

"That's none of your business," he said sharply. Light met the glare with equal strength.

"This is more important than stupid games," he said firmly. Mello's eyes narrowed.

"Oh? You have no idea. Stay out of my business." Mello turned on his heel to make a dignified exit, but Light got out of his chair and moved between him and the door.

"I have every idea. I'm only going to tell you once more; _Stop. It_."

"I'll do whatever I want," snapped Mello, trying to push past Light to get to the door.

"Listen. I know how you feel about him, but you don't have to do things like this."

"You have NO IDEA how I feel about ANYTHING!" Light sighed. Gently, he reached out and took Mello's wrists to keep him from trying to shove him out of the way. Mello was not keen on that idea and struggled against it, but Light kept his grip.

"Listen to me Mello," he said softly. "If this is all because you still worry that he's better than you, then you need to realise that he's not." Mello stopped in his tracks. After a second, he moved his gaze to the floor.

"Oh yeah? What do you know..?" he muttered. Light released Mello's wrists.

"What? You think I don't know what it's like to be in competition with someone? I could never be as good as L…" The last sentence was aimed at himself. Mello still did not look at him, but when he spoke his voice was quiet and vulnerable.

"None of us could." He paused. "But Near is always going to be closer than me."

"Only if you tell yourself that," Light soothed. Mello stared up at him and Light got the distinct impression that he wanted to cry. Suddenly, he did too. He ruffled Mello's hair and made his way off to the staircase. Mello watched him go then went silently off to his room, for once entirely ignoring the one next to it.


	14. Near and Mello

**Fourteen - Near and Mello**

Over the next month at L's headquarters, the dust certainly settled. There were no more unusual deaths and no more leads. It once again looked as if Kira would escape them. Light remained determined even if, secretly, he grew more desolate every day. He wouldn't even admit to himself that he was losing hope. Mello seemed, for the first time since Light had met him, to genuinely be happy. Even if he tried to disguise it. Near just got even quieter. He spent more and more time isolated in his room, but for once Light didn't really notice, let alone bother to stop him.

He hadn't realised he'd actually miss it. Near had always told himself that Mello hated him and that, even if he didn't deserve it, he should accept it. It was never going to change. Mello hated him for being better. Whether he was or was not was not the issue; he was in Mello's eyes. It was unforgivable to be better than Mello. So he still wanted to kick himself when he thought back to the first time, and how he'd actually hoped Mello had changed his mind.

When they'd first started the investigation as the three successors of L, Mello and he had not worked very well together. They never had in the past; why should something as technical as their idol's death change that..? Instead, they had grown accustomed to working beside one another, with Light in the middle, and that worked well enough as there was nothing of consequence to actually _do_. At first, sure, there was plenty to be done. This was the second coming of Kira. Of course there was work to be done. But when the novelty wore off and they realised there were no new clues… Well, it really didn't matter at all then if they worked as a team or just did things separately and communicated through the middleman. And so they did.

After they left Winchester and moved to Japan things changed again. Not at first, but eventually it seemed that the shift in how things were done affected Mello. They started getting up every morning and spending the day together working; the three of them, but no-one else. It was very rare that any of them left the building. Near supposed at first that Mello must miss Matt. He certainly had the appearance of someone who was brooding. Back in England, although they were far busier than ever, Mello still got to see Matt on occasion and play with the other boys. He didn't have that anymore. Now, he was just as isolated as Near had always been.

One day, a few months into their time in Japan, Mello had slammed down the papers he was looking through in the middle of working and run out of the room. Light had blanked it. Near had accepted it was not his place to follow or even ask. They did not see Mello again for the rest of the day. It had been a bad time for Light; something about readjusting to the old building where he'd last been with L, so he'd barely spoken to Near all day. When he went up to bed, without bothering to say goodnight, Near had made his way to his own room. When he'd opened the door, he had been caught out. Mello was there, sitting on the bed. He had obviously been outside; his hair was still wet. He hadn't had a coat. He looked cold. He only looked up when Near came into the room and made his way carefully over, as if he'd been in a trance until then. He had stared at Near for what seemed like forever without moving. Near hadn't known if he should say something, but he hadn't.

After a long time, Mello had muttered something under his breath. Near hadn't been able to hear it, so he asked what he had said. Mello didn't respond. He had slipped back into a trance. Near asked again, louder. After the third time, Mello snapped out of it and stared hard at him again.

"I said 'I don't know'," he whispered. Near had frowned. He didn't understand. Mello had looked at him for another few minutes. He leaned over and cupped Near's face in his hands. "I don't know," he said again. Then he kissed him a few times. Near wasn't used to it and tried to stop him, but Mello refused to be stopped. He ran his hands through Near's hair, getting more rushed in his movements as he went along, as if he was going to run out of time. After a while, Near gave into it. He wanted to. He wanted to believe Mello had changed his mind about him. He did believe it, for a while. He kept believing it all the way through, right up until he woke up the next morning and realised Mello had left. As he gathered his clothes in a way he would repeat many times in the future, he still half-believed that Mello cared about him. It was only when he got out to the office he was certain he didn't.

Mello wouldn't look at him. For the next three days, Mello would not even vaguely look in his direction. Every time Light asked either of them something, Mello would answer it first, so that he didn't have to hear Near's voice. Eventually Near managed to answer a question first. He watched Mello's nose wrinkle in what he assumed was disgust at the sound of his voice. Mello couldn't bear what he'd done. So Near let him block him out, feeling just a little bit crushed inside, as he always had. They still did not work well together, it seemed.

Sometime after Near turned eighteen and a while after he'd grown to loathe Mello's new attitude, he came up with a theory that could, if it had been right, have led to the capture of Kira. It was debunked a week or two later, but at the time it seemed brilliant. Near took a little joy in watching Mello's face turn into a snarl as Light praised him.

That night, Near made his way to his room as always, with Mello following him down the corridor. For two years they had not spoken to each other, despite living only one door apart, outside of the office. Just as Near reached out to press down on the door handle, he felt Mello grab him from behind and spin him round to face him. He'd gasped in shock, and he knew Mello had liked being able to catch him out like that. Mostly because he tried to repeat it whenever possible. Before he could accuse or say anything, Mello kissed him on the mouth. Near had let it go at once.

Three times in that week it happened, and Near could not think of a time in his life which had been better. Mello hadn't frozen him out the days afterwards; he hadn't seemed to be ashamed and, best of all, he actually stayed with Near all night. And then, on the third morning, it was all ruined.

Near awoke as usual to find Mello already awake; lying next to him and staring at him, waiting for him to wake up. Near had smiled. Mello had smiled too, and kissed him lightly on the forehead. And then, stupidly, Near had asked him the question.

"Mello..?" Mello mm-ed in response. "Do you love me..?" Mello had stroked Near's cheek softly and then, still smiling serenely, had said;

"Of course I don't, Near. I despise you. Why, the only person in this world I am less fond of than you is Kira, and seeing as we've never met I doubt that counts."

Then he had got up, got dressed, and left Near lying there in shock. Near had expected that to be the end of it. But, sure enough, a few nights later, Mello caught him again and before Near knew it, he was waking up alone in the room next to his more and more often. It usually happened once a week, and every week Mello got a little bit rougher or a little more careless with him. Lately, it had been much more often. He always hoped that maybe Light would catch Mello and put a stop to it, seeing as he was the closest thing to a figure of authority they had. And now he had.

Near missed it. He missed Mello. He didn't care that Mello did not really like him; he still missed him more than anything. But he would never let anyone know that. Especially not Mello.


	15. The Perfect Message

**Fifteen - The Perfect Message**

The month following Mikami and Misa's introduction was a busy one from Kira's perspective. For all the world to see, everything was happening as always; Kira kept killing criminals in much the same way as ever. But Misa and Mikami were plotting. Or rather, Mikami was plotting _for _Misa. Every day was a day closer to her and Light's reunion, as she saw it.

It was not long before they had explored every option. Mikami told her that the only way she was going to be able to get in contact with L, the only safe way at least, was to contact him via one of the television programmes dedicated to Kira. She'd done it before, she could surely do it again. Misa was both delighted and intimidated by the idea of contacting Light again after so many years. What if he had changed? And, she realised, she did not even know if he definitely was acting as L. She'd just assumed, being Ryuuzaki's second…

Over the month the two of them figured out the perfect message for L from Kira. Hopefully one which would draw a response.

Near was interrupted from his thoughts by a loud knocking at his door. When he opened it, he saw Mello standing there with a crazed expression. For a second, he wondered what the hell was going on, but Mello was quick to enlighten him.

"There's been a message from Kira broadcast on Sakura TV!" he yelled, grabbing Near's sleeve and practically dragging him into the office. Light sat on the edge of his seat, holding tightly to a remote control and staring at the screen. When Near and Mello appeared behind him, he rewound the message to the beginning. The word 'Kira' flashed up onto the screen in gothic font, and the familiar computer voice started speaking.

"Hello. This is Kira. To confirm my identity-" Light skipped ahead, having already been through the part where deaths were announced and confirmed. "-Now that you are sure I am the real Kira, I have a message for L. I would like for us to work together in turning the world into a better place where justice is paramount. I appreciate that you will probably not be willing to trust me, but if you respond to this message within three days via Sakura TV, I am sure we will be able to come to an arrangement." The message and picture cut off. Light turned to face Near and Mello.

"Well? What do you think we should do, Near? I already know how Mello feels." Near glanced at Mello, but his expression did not reveal his opinion.

"I think we should probably respond. We don't really have any other options," he said after a moment. Light nodded.

"Good; we all agree then."

"Yeah," said Mello, his voice reverted to monotone to cover his emotions. "We just need to think what to say now."

Two days later, Misa and Mikami sat together on his sofa as they had done every night since sending out the message, watching Sakura TV to see if L was going to reply. Misa had hoped for a response the very next day, but Mikami assured her that L would want time to think over his reply. She had stared at him and said 'Light, his name is Light. L is dead.'. Mikami had decided not to ask any more questions.

Misa pouted in the direction of the screen, as if her annoyance would magically cause L to respond at once. Sakura TV was about to start Kira's Kingdom; the very programme where she had first spotted Mikami. However, after the title, the screen turned black. Mikami frowned. A large capital 'L' appeared in the centre of the screen, and Misa leapt up from her seat with a gasp of joy. This was it!

"Hello." It began. "This is L. I am responding directly to Kira's message, broadcasted on this channel two days ago. I am willing to discuss a possible negotiation with Kira. Please contact me again via Sakura TV as soon as possible. Perhaps we can form an arrangement." The message cut off.

There was a weighted pause in the following moments. Then Misa squealed at the top of her lungs. She beamed. Mikami got up to make sure she was alright. As he put a hand on her shoulder, she spun around and drew him into a tight hug. She pecked him on the cheek.

"Oh, Mikami! This is it! Thanks to you, I will finally get my Light back!" Mikami cleared his throat awkwardly.

"You are welcome, Miss Kira," he said.

The phone call came the morning after Light broadcasted their message. For one fleeting moment, he thought it was actually Kira calling him. Then he realised that was impossible. Sure enough, it was one of the people from Sakura TV. Although, of course, it was _about_ Kira.

Near and Mello watched Light's face change from initial disappoint, when his daydream of Kira phoning him himself was dismissed, to confusion, to shock. If someone had told Light that he himself was Kira, it would probably not be possible to look any more surprised than he already did. Near frowned at him, unable to hear the other half of the conversation; the important half. Mello seemed distracted. Light thanked the caller and hung up, turning solemnly to his two companions.

"That was someone from Sakura TV. They wanted to tell us that Kira sent them another message for L. However, when they opened the envelope, there was a note inside instructing no-one other than L to look through the rest of the contents, under penalty of death. They have it there if we want to send someone to pick it up." Mello had turned a shade paler than usual about halfway through the second sentence. Near remained silent.

A few hours later, Mello arrived at Sakura TV. He had, against his wishes, been dressed in some of Light's more casual clothes; a plain shirt and a dark pair of trousers. Both items were slightly too big for him and hung uncomfortably on his skinny frame. Light had insisted that Mello's usual manner of dress was too conspicuous. He was supposed to be playing the part of a hired assistant of L's; one who had of course never seen L in person, to pick up the envelope. He had volunteered, considering they had no-one better to do it. It's not as if anyone knew who he was. In fact, there were only two people in the country who did.

Mello made his way to the front desk and quietly stated his business. The receptionist nodded, although he personally doubted she saw 'L' as anything more than a buzzword and wondered if she had any idea why he was here, and pointed him in the right direction. He walked slowly down the corridor and eventually found the right room. When inside, he saw it was a disused office. The person who, he supposed, had spoken to Light on the phone sat at the desk with an idle smile. He stood up to shake Mello's hand, having no idea who he was really meeting.

"You must be one of L's boys," he said cheerfully. Mello made sure to ignore the condescending tone, instead choosing to shrug.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm just an errand boy." He could swear the man's smile faltered when he said the word 'just'. It was quickly retrieved.

"Well, it's still good to know that L is finally going to give up trying to catch our lord Kira and join him on the side of justice." That pissed Mello off, but once again he hid it.

_No_, he thought. _L never said that, you jackass. And even then he was just lying for the cameras. L is justice. Kira is evil._

Mello smiled as convincingly as he could, turned down a cup of coffee and left as quickly as possible with the envelope. He couldn't wait to see exactly what Kira had left for them. Not that it mattered in the least what it was, because whatever it was, it meant Kira was going to be caught.


	16. Phone Call

**Sixteen - Phone Call**

When Mello returned with the envelope, Light ran to him immediately and snatched it. It wasn't mean, just rushed, as none of them could wait to open it. Light sat, for once, on the floor and carefully opened the top. He waited for the others to join him before revealing the contents. The first thing he pulled out was the initial note which ensured no-one but L would see the rest. It was typed, probably on a typewriter, and he assumed printless. Still, he would have everything scanned for fingerprints or other traces of DNA later. The next thing he removed was a mobile phone. From the look of things, it was brand new. It was switched off. Cautiously, he put it on the floor and turned to the final item in the envelope. Another piece of paper, also typed. This one held a much longer message. Light read it aloud for the other two:

'My dear L,

As you know, this is Kira. I will assume you do not doubt that so will not offer any killings as proof. I will get straight to the point; I want for the two of us to-' Light stopped suddenly, his eyes widening.

"What?" asked Mello impatiently. "Keep reading!" Light blinked and shook his head slightly, but did so.

'-the two of us to meet in person. I'm sure you'll need time to accept that. I really, really think this is the best way for us to help one another. I do not want to hurt you, so as proof, when we meet, I would ask that you protect your face. If I cannot see your face you have nothing to fear of me. You may also bring any weapons you wish. I will be at your mercy. If you feel that we can go ahead with this, and I do hope you do, then please switch on the mobile phone and wait until midnight tonight. I will call you and make the arrangements.

Yours sincerely, Kira.'

None of them spoke for quite some time. It was Near who finally broke the silence.

"We have to do it," he muttered. "Or we will be at a stalemate once again."

"Maybe," Light said quietly. "But it has to be a trap. Kira would never do something like this." Another pause.

"Well they have!" Near and Light both looked at Mello, whose face had turned into a snarl. "How can you say 'Kira wouldn't do this' when that's exactly what they _have_ done?" he snapped.

"I meant that it is not like Kira, and so it is probably a trap-"

"Who cares? This is going to be our only chance to catch him! _We have to take it._" Mello's eyes bore into Light. He was terrifying.

"You're right, Mello. The perfect opportunity just landed in our laps. We certainly can't ignore it," Near answered for Light. Mello glanced at him. Against his will, he nodded.

"Thank you Near," he said quickly.

Misa waited by the phone all day, checking the clock every few minutes. Recently, she had essentially been living with Mikami. It was more convenient than trailing over every day from her own apartment. Mikami liked the company, essentially just because it was Kira. She had even introduced him to Ryuk. Unlike her initial encounters with shinigami, Mikami took it all in his stride and merely raised his eyebrows when a leering death god appeared in his living room. Now, as Misa continued to stare at the phone, waiting for her chance to call, he brought her a cup of tea and, after she thanked him, returned to his everyday work.

The L trio waited with equal quantities of suspense for midnight to come. Every now and then, one of them went and made some coffee to keep them all alert, but two always stayed with the phone. It sat in pride of place on the desk top, waiting for its moment of glory to come. Aside from blinking and coffee runs, their eyes seemed never to leave it, as if each was worried that perhaps if they left it alone for but a second it would ring and stop before they could reach it. It was insane, but they were allowed to be insane this once; their lives had been building up now for six years, all to this point.

Approximately twelve seconds before midnight, the phone rang. The standard, electronic noise echoed through the cavernous office. Light snatched it up at once and had answered it before the second ring. He instantaneously set the phone to loudspeaker so that Near and Mello could overhear.

"Hello..?" he breathed. The tension was killing him.

"Hello L." The voice on the other end was a low, male voice. It was devoid of tone and would be extremely hard to recognise again. Besides, Kira was likely to be disguising it.

"This is Kira..?" Light felt stupid asking. He felt a shiver run through him as he heard the answer.

"Yes." They paused. Light could hear breathing on their end. "I'll be brief. We should meet at a place I have picked out. It is known as Yellow Box warehouse, and is located at Daikoku Wharf. It is essentially a disused warehouse and will be out of the way enough for us to meet up secretly. I will expect to meet you inside, at noon, in two days time." Another second's pause. "Is that alright with you, L..?"

Light hesitated. He did not like that Kira was making all the arrangements, but remembered what the letter had said. Unless Kira attempted to kill him the old fashioned way, he was going to be at an advantage anyway.

"Yes, that's fine with me."

"Good." Kira hung up.

Mikami smiled to himself and turned the phone over in his hands. He carefully dismantled it and placed the key elements in a neat line on the table. He picked up each in turn and crushed them until all that was left of the phone was a shell. He had not been on the phone line long enough to be traced, but it always paid to be careful. He turned to Misa, who had been sitting patiently, waiting for him to finish off the mobile.

"He will be ours soon, Miss Kira." Misa smiled.

"Thank you," she said simply. He too smiled.

"I hope you can last through two days."

"Please, Mikami. It feels like a lifetime since I saw him last. Two days is nothing if I have Light back at the end of it."


	17. Hope

**Seventeen - Hope**

They were sitting in the office, just the two of them, in utter silence. Light sat on the floor. The other man sat in the chair. Light was not sure how long he had merely been sitting; staring at his silent companion, but it felt as if it had always been going on like that. Just like that; him on the floor, and L hanging over him. A shadow he could never reach. L was completely still. Deadly still. But then he turned around and looked straight into Light's eyes. He was smiling softly, and Light suddenly felt at ease.

"It wasn't your fault. You are going to fix things." L spoke smoothly and comfortingly. Light, however, found himself shaking his head.

"But what if I can't?"

"You will fix things," L said firmly. He stood up slowly, but did not move to approach Light. Light was vaguely aware that they were no longer in his office. No, for some reason they were now in the garden at L's orphanage. A cold breeze tugged at the grass he sat in. L stood across the garden from him. It seemed a lot farther than the ten or so feet it really was. L sighed and the breeze carried the sound all about, making it seem like a never-ending echo.

"Please," Light stuttered. "Come here, Ryuuzaki!" L cocked his head to the side.

"Why?"

"I need you." L nodded slowly. Then, he started to walk through the grass, painfully slowly. Light watched him with some fear which he did not understand. He needed L to be as close to him as possible. Otherwise, he was in danger. That was all he knew.

Suddenly, L stopped walking. His face froze in an expression of horror. Light watched him clutch his chest and fall with dawning familiarity. He could not get up, he found. He had to watch it again.

There was a hushed sound of laughter from one side. Light turned sharply only to see a shadowy figure whose face was covered by a mask. They were far away, and he could not make out the details of the mask; there was a low mist, it was foggy, he couldn't see them properly. He leapt to his feet and chased them.

Before he knew it, he had left the garden and was instead sprinting through woods. He glanced over his shoulder, but the grass and L had disappeared. All that was now were trees and him and his quarry.

He was catching up to them. He still could not see their face, but he knew that it was important that he did. They were still laughing, childishly, even though he was quickly closing the distance between them. He knew that this person had to be the one who killed L in the garden. He would make them pay. Without warning, they turned a corner. Light chased after them and found himself in a clearing.

The figure stood in the centre. Their head faced down towards the ground. Light started to approach, but quickly froze. The figure took a step to the side. Behind him were two bodies, placed delicately against the trees. If it weren't for the slumped shoulders and apparent lack of breathing, then the word 'boys' would have jumped to mind far ahead of 'bodies'. Oddly, he noticed that both were dressed in white. Near and Mello. He glowered at the figure who, he assumed, had placed their bodies neatly there together. The figure looked up at him and for the first time the mask was visible.

It was distorted, but it was still recognisable. It was L's face, twisted into a sneer. It looked just like L was sneering at _him_. But this person had just killed L, it seemed, and his successors. All that was left was him; Light.

Light, feeling a wave of anger rush through him, ran to the figure and pushed them hard onto the dirt. They made a choking noise as they hit; pulling themselves into a kneeling position. Light leant forward and ripped the mask from their face. At once he took a step back in horror.

The figure leered at him. But they leered at him with his face. They were him. This was him. _It was him_.

"Who are you?" Light screamed at them, him, and the figure laughed again.

"Who do you think I am? I am the person who killed L. I am the person who will kill L's successors. I am Yagami Light." It was a cruel mockery of his own voice; raspy and harsh, but still recognisable as his. He shook his head vigorously.

"You are not; I am Yagami Light! I didn't kill L. I won't kill them. I haven't ever killed anybody!"

"You are a killer. A killer. Killer… Killer… Killer…" The chanting went on and on and Light tried to shut it out, but it rang inside his head. He barely noticed when 'Killer' warped into 'Kira'. Before he knew what he was doing, he leapt at the twisted other version of himself. He wrapped his hands around their throat and squeezed as hard as he possibly could. This only seemed to make them laugh harder, and the sound grew ever more hysterical and maniacal as he strangled them. Eventually he let go. The figure's eyes had grown wide. They were dead.

Light got up instantly, not thinking about what he had done, and rushed to the two bodies in the shade of the trees. He felt Near's pulse. He was dead. He was cold too; he had probably been dead far longer than L. Perhaps he had always been dead, secretly, and no-one had noticed until he had stopped breathing. Light approached Mello, intending to check for signs of life in him too. Before he could, Mello jerked and coughed up a considerable amount of blood. Most of it hit Light, but he did not notice. Mello's eyes flew open and he stared fearfully at Light. Light rested a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright, you will be safe now," he said warmly. Mello shook his head. A dribble of blood ran down his chin.

"N-no," he whispered, his voice cracking. "Not with you."

"What do you mean? I want to help you!" Light frowned, feeling panic beginning to well.

"You will kill me," Mello said, quietly, terrified, and then closed his eyes. Light shook him. He, too, was dead.

Light stood up slowly. He glanced around at the three bodies. One of them, still kneeling, had a frozen, demented laugh stuck on their face. One of them looked to be a ghostly paper doll; never alive. The other had stared at him in fear, and he was now covered in their blood. Somewhere far away there was another body. That body was perhaps the saddest of all, as their death had been avoidable. If Light did not do something, it would also be pointless. All of them would.

L had had faith in him. Always, he had had some kind of faith in him.

Light was the only one left. He was the only hope.

He awoke in a sweat and, at once, his dream was forgotten. He could not remember why the word 'hope' clung to him so.


	18. Restoration

**Eighteen - Restoration**

They left the office at nine thirty. It was a short drive through mostly unattractive backgrounds; industrial equipment especially towards the end. The three of them stepped out of the car. Each one carried something with them, and Light led the way in silence to the correct building. They were early and, when inside, it was clear that Kira had not yet arrived. Obviously Kira had not planned ahead like they had. Light had the upper hand. This would all be over by the evening. They positioned themselves facing the only entrance. With a nod from Light, Near and Mello took the masks they had brought with them up and placed them over their faces. Light did the same with his. Each mask was solid white and expressionless. The combination of that and the silence was utterly eerie.

Around quarter to twelve, they heard footsteps approaching behind the closed door.

Misa and Mikami had arrived at the warehouse that day at six in the morning. They had hidden themselves far away from the entrance, but had kept it within sight. When Misa had seen the three arrive, she had been shocked. So had Mikami. They had been expecting only Light; perhaps a driver, but only Light to go to the building. Instead, there were three of them. Three Ls. Misa had forced herself to remain calm, and quickly scanned the faces of the other two. She noted down their names on a normal piece of paper. Mikami assured her that they were still going to get what they came for; this was not going to be a problem. Kira had the upper hand.

L stood silently in front of his two comrades, awaiting Kira's grand entrance. The footsteps stopped just outside the door.

Mikami had insisted on the initial protection of their identities. He had assumed L would hide his face; the three of them had been holding masks as they walked in. As such, he and Misa had also brought masks. Theirs were simple, featureless black ones. They both put them on before approaching the warehouse inside which L stood. Misa clutched the Death Note tightly to her chest; it would be the first thing L would recognise when they walked in.

The door opened. Light tensed. Two figures walked into the warehouse; a woman dressed in black, with long blonde hair who struck him as vaguely familiar and a man in a suit with black hair. Both wore masks. The woman held tightly to the Death Note. She was Kira.

Both Near and Mello had a sharp intake of breath; neither having seen a copy of the notebook before. Light waited for her to speak first, all the while trying to remember why he knew her. Without seeing her face, he couldn't tell.

"Hello L. It is nice to finally meet you after hearing so much." It was the man who spoke. The woman remained silent. That annoyed Light. This man was obviously only here to act as Kira's go-between. Why didn't the woman speak? Light nodded but did not reply.

Mikami twitched. This was Light? He was younger than he had expected; he was younger than Misa. This man had been the original Kira..? It didn't seem possible; he must have been a teenager at the time.

"You can remove your masks now," Mikami invited, the carefully planned monotone breaking a little in favour of excitement.

"Why would we do that?" Light asked, unable to keep shock out of his voice a little. Did they think L was stupid?

"Because we already know your names and your faces." Mikami sounded thoroughly triumphant now.

"They're bluffing!" Mello said, but he did not sound confident. "They can't possibly."

"Yagami Light," Mikami said calmly, pointing to Light. "Mihael Keehl. Nate River." He pointed to each in turn. Light shivered; he had not expected this.

"I don't know for sure that you've seen our faces," Light said, as calmly as possible. "So we will keep our masks on."

"No," said Near quietly. Light turned to look at him in surprise. "There is no way they could have found out either my or Mello's name without seeing our faces. We did not even know each others'."

"He is right," agreed Mello reluctantly. "They have to have seen us."

"Yes… but they may not have seen _my_ face. That's possible," said Light, clearly clinging to what he could.

"Oh..?" It was the woman. Kira. She had spoken at last. Light's eyes widened behind his mask. "I have." She reached to the back of her head and loosened the string attaching the mask. She took it by the chin and pulled it away from her, revealing her face. She smiled softly.

For several seconds Light said nothing.

"Misa…" he whispered. "You… all along." She nodded.

"It's so good to finally see you again, my lovely Light."

"Who..?" asked Mello. He tugged off his own mask to see more clearly. Misa glanced at him and the two blondes scowled at one another. "How do you know her, Light?"

"We used to be friends," Light said simply. Misa giggled.

"Don't be modest." She turned and nodded at Mikami, who removed his mask. Light had almost been expecting to see another familiar face, but thankfully he did not recognise the man. Any more surprises were likely to kill him. Misa smiled back at Light. "Let me see your face again…" she whispered.

Light hesitated, but then loosened and removed his mask. Near did the same. They dropped them onto the floor with Mello's. The five of them now stood in the warehouse without their invisible walls. Neither side seemed to be at an advantage. Misa would not have time to write any names in the notebook or run away without Light catching her, but he, Near and Mello would not be able to make it very far away before their names were written down. L and Kira, unveiled to one another at last, seemed to be at a stalemate. There had to be something else.

"Now," Misa said. She seemed to have suddenly grown cheerful, as if everything was going her way and the situation lacked seriousness. She held out the notebook. "Why don't you take this, Light..?" Light hesitated again. Kira shouldn't just hand over the notebook… even if it was Misa. Did she hope he'd let her go just because they used to be close..? He'd never been particularly fond of her.

Misa smiled so warmly. She swayed the note invitingly up and down. Light frowned at her. He took it.

At once he fell to his knees. Still holding the notebook, he screamed. Both Near and Mello took an involuntary step back. Mikami smiled darkly; Misa giggled.

He stopped screaming. A whimper escaped his lips. He was silent for a long time. And then, clutching the notebook tightly, he stood up; his pallor greater than ever before in his life. He looked Misa in the eye.

"I'm Kira," he muttered. Near and Mello's eyes widened. Misa clapped her hands in delight.

"Oh Light! I've waited so long, but finally you remember everything!" She seemed so happy. Light stared back at her.

"I… I had L killed."

"Yes, I knew you wanted me to do that! Misa is so clever, and so useful for Light! I did just what I knew you'd want me to!"

Mello took a step forward, preparing to speak, but Near shot out an arm in front of him as a warning not to interrupt. For once, he listened.

"I can't believe it. L…" Light gasped. "He planned it. He let me go! He… he let me live and I killed him."

"Yes…" said Misa, somewhat losing her chirpiness as she noticed Light wasn't at once as delighted as her. "But you had to, right? He tried to stop Kira. Us! He tried to keep us apart!"

"Kira is justice." Light looked at Mikami, who had taken the lull in conversation as an opportunity to step in. "Kira wanted to rid the world of evil, and the world is a better place because of that. Because of _you_, Yagami Light. Are you saying the sacrifices weren't worth it..?"

Light struggled to think. He couldn't cope with the two sides of his personality; the newly awakened, driven, part of him which had once been Kira… and the person he had been for the last six years; equally driven by the idea of justice, but looking for a different end. Both sides were fighting for control of his brain. He could hardly think…

"Light." He looked up at Misa. He realised he'd fallen to his knees again. "Light, I know you'll make the right decision." She seemed genuinely concerned, as if he was suffering from a fever.

"What do you mean?" he groaned, still struggling with the memories and the new perspectives on everything which had happened.

"You are going to open the notebook, Light… And then you'll write their names down in it." She glowered at Near and Mello as she said it.

Light allowed his internal conflict to be put on hold for a moment. Of course… Kira had had a plan all along. This way, not only would Misa get him back, the world would get back the original Kira and, best of all, L would be completely eliminated. It almost had the markings of one of his own plans, it was so perfect. He could only imagine Misa's right hand man had come up with it. It seemed, however, they had not counted on his overall confusion.

"Why would I kill them..?" he asked. Part of him wanted to. In fact, he really wanted to. Desperately. His tone seemed to give that away.

"None of us are going to leave here today until one side wins." Misa was surprisingly frightening. "I know what you'll choose, Light. Kira is who you are. You'll choose me; you'll choose _you. _But just to be fair, I'll give you a choice." She smiled chillingly. "Amane Misa. Mikami Teru. Do what you have to."

Light got to his feet once more. He moved into the centre of the floor, where he could see all four of them looking back at him. Misa looked confident and cheerful. Mikami seemed only slightly annoyed with Misa's last minute decision to reveal his name. Obviously they were certain he would choose the side of Kira. On L's side, Mello looked at him with surprise bordering on disgust. Near just appeared to be waiting. Mikami reached into his jacket pocket and removed a fountain pen, which he placed on the floor before Light. Light picked it up and opened the notebook, pen hovering above the page.

He could not decide. Both sides of him had clearly made up their minds, but neither wanted to compromise. The half of him which had been Kira insisted he wrote down Near and Mello's real names and went back to what he had originally planned. He would have done so, but then the other half of him, L, told him that that was wrong; he had to do what he had planned to do for years now and kill Kira, the person responsible for the real L's death. He would then have written down Misa and Mikami's names, but then the Kira side stopped him. He wanted to write down all four, but he equally didn't want to write down any of them. He couldn't decide. He couldn't decide!

"Come on, Light," Misa said encouragingly.

"Just do it! Kill us if you want to, Kira! Mello spat.

"You can't hide from what you are," Mikami said darkly.

Amongst the shouts from both sides, Light found himself looking at Near, who had yet to say anything. Near noticed he was being watched and looked back at Light blankly.

"Think about L," he said at last. Light sighed.

He hated L. No, he wanted to make him proud. He'd killed him. But he'd held him as he died. He wished he wasn't dead. Then he could see him kill his successors. Thinking of L did not help. But then, when Light thought about it… he was L now. Whatever decision he made, then that would be L's decision. L was here now, not a body back in a miserable grave in England. And L would never dare be indecisive.

He took a deep breath, and then, putting pen to paper, wrote two names into the Death Note.


	19. Forty

**Nineteen - Forty**

He shut the notebook as soon as he'd written the names down. He did not say anything. The couple on both sides leaned in, waiting for him to reveal his choice. Instead, he tucked the notebook under his arm and moved his watch hand in front of his face. He mouthed the seconds. The other four got the uncomfortable impression that they would not know what he had decided until two of them dropped down dead.

_10…_

Half of him knew he had made the right decision. The other was outraged. He wasn't going to let that bother him; it had to be this way.

_20…_

Misa went over what would happen next in her head. Soon, the two miniature Ls would keel over and she, Light and Mikami would leave the warehouse together. She would thank Mikami, as would Light, and he would only be grateful that he got the chance to serve Kira in person. He would go off back to his life, and she and Light would continue as Kira. With no more opposition from L, they would truly lead the world as God and Goddess.

_30…_

Mello wondered if Near really didn't care that he might be on the precipice of death, or if it was just an act. Maybe he really was that capable of controlling his emotions. Either way, he didn't like it. He wanted Near to scream or cry or something, anything, that was _human_. He himself would probably have done something like that, if he weren't so eaten up with rage. Light Yagami had killed L, Light Yagami was Kira. And all this time he had been pretending to be L! Trying to catch Kira! Whether he had forgotten or not, it was still all a lie. Just a lie, and this was the end of it.

Light counted the last few seconds out loud.

"38, 39… 40."

As expected, two bodies hit the floor almost at once. Neither died instantly. Light took a few steps closer to them to watch the last hint of life escape their eyes. One of them glowered at him; the other looked up with sadness and shock. It was over. They should have known he'd make this choice. He was Kira. He had always been Kira. But more recently, he had been L. And he was going to fight the other half of him. He would fight Kira. He was L now.

The two had died much in the same way as L. In all truth, it was a much more pleasant death than many of Kira's victims. A heart attack wasn't as bad as it should have been for them. But it had been far too simple for someone like L. Overall, it was not a good mode of death. From either perspective. Light looked carefully at Misa and Mikami, taking in their last expressions. Misa's heart had obviously broken just as it stopped beating. Ironic. Maybe her death had been appropriate.

Life is interesting, thought Light. I could have made either choice. Mello and Near could have died instead. Either choice would leave me feeling unsatisfied. I could not possibly have been made happy by this. He, L, gazed down at the two bodies on the warehouse floor. Misa's hair had spread out around her head like a halo. She was, or had been, an angel of death. She could have killed all three of them and lived as Kira; goddess of the new world. She had not. She'd had faith in him. A sick, twisted faith that he'd still be the same person that had promised her the world six years ago. She'd loved him, and because of it she had died. She was a little too human for her own good.

L, too, had been just a little too human for his own good. If he had had Light executed when he had originally found out that he was Kira, instead of trying to fix him, then he would still be alive. It was all Light's fault; both deaths… were all his fault.

With a last glance at the girl who had loved him and who had killed the person he cared about the most, he turned to the survivors; Mello and Near. The last reminder of L.

"We should go," he said simply.

-- -- -- -- --

**A/N** -- OK. This isn't the last chapter. **There is one more. **So don't take this off your alerts just yet. But...

It's not a very happy ending. If you want to leave it here, go ahead, and don't look back. But if you want to know the real ending, then wait for the last chapter. You've been warned..


	20. An Ending

**An Ending**

They found the body exactly one week, to the hour, after he had killed Misa and Mikami. If anyone had been alive to make the comparison, they would have said that the suicide was a lot like that FBI agent's; Naomi Misora. This too was a hanging, and also in a deserted place. It seemed to have been done in the old English way of the gallows; when someone has committed high treason. What most people don't know is that in England, if you commit treason, you will still get a death sentence. It's the only crime which still gets the death penalty. Oh, you can murder, lie, torture… but if you commit treason you had better be ready to feel a rope around your neck. The English are not so forgiving of betrayal.

Light did not hang himself in England. He was never charged of any crime. He hung himself on the roof of L's old building because he had betrayed L. Whether he had made the right decision or not back at the warehouse, part of him would never be satisfied with the result. He could give up the notebook and allow his mind to tell itself everything was fine; forget like before, but he would always know something was wrong simply from the way in which Mello and Near looked at him now. He was a traitor. He didn't want to take the easy way out and forget again.

Near found him there when they realised he had been missing for two days. He and Mello searched the whole building until finally Near made his way out onto the roof and saw Light's makeshift gallows. He hung limply and rocked in the breeze. Mello reached the roof eventually as well, and also saw it. Near had been standing gazing for almost half an hour. Mello looked at him for a moment, then put an arm around his shoulder and steered him back inside.

Mello went back to England and contacted Matt. He did not tell Matt everything that had happened; he left the details seriously sketchy.

Near took on the role of L. It wasn't the success he had always assumed it would be when he was younger. It was hollow.

L had died a long time ago, and now so had the second L. What good was it to be the third, especially seeing as he had only been handed the job as his predecessors were dead and Mello had not wanted it. He had not won the job; it had settled for him.

The world still longed for Kira. Near never bothered to make an official statement as L; let the people have their opium. If they want to believe Kira will return, then why not let them? It kept them quiet and it kept crime down. He was just cynical enough to let them all live in fear. It made his job a hell of a lot easier.

After Mello had led Near inside, after they had found Light's body, he had said something. The first time it was too quiet for Near to hear. Without being prompted, he looked Near in the eye and repeated it.

"L is dead. Kira is dead. Why are we still here..?"

Neither of them had found an answer to the question. Presumably, Mello spent the rest of his life trying to. Near simply allowed it to kill him slowly, like with so many other thoughts over time.

**End.**


End file.
